Exploring electric field assisted van der Waals weakening of stratified crystals

We report an enhancement in the efficiency of agitative liquid-phase exfoliation of stratified WS2crystals under the influence of an electric field. We have been successfully able to increase the exfoliation efficiency of WS2nanoflakes using a co-applied alternating electric field. Loss of centrosymmetry at the facial layers of WS2, together with the matching between the dispersive component of this material and solvent that weakens the van der Waals forces, augment the exfoliation process. However, this is not seen for MoS2and graphene. The outcomes provide the base for future investigations on the influence of electric field for the exfoliation of layered structures.