Dual-metal precursors for the universal growth of non-layered 2D transition metal chalcogenides with ordered cation vacancies

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) are promising for nanoelectronics and energy applications. Among them, the emerging non-layered TMCs are unique due to their unsaturated dangling bonds on the surface and strong intralayer and interlayer bonding. However, the synthesis of non-layered 2D TMCs is challenging and this has made it difficult to study their structures and properties at thin thickness limit. Here, we develop a universal dual-metal precursors method to grow non-layered TMCs in which a mixture of a metal and its chloride serves as the metal source. Taking hexagonal Fe