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Near-100% spontaneous rolling up of polar van der Waals materials

Nature Materials volume 24, pages 1716–1725 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Rolling two-dimensional materials into one-dimensional nanoscrolls introduces curvature, chirality and symmetry breaking, enabling emergent properties. Conventional methods relying on external driving forces, however, exhibit poor control, low yield and limited reproducibility. Here we report spontaneous scrolling in polar van der Waals materials via an electrochemical intercalation/exfoliation process, enabling scalable nanoscroll production. This self-rolling is driven intrinsically by out-of-plane electric polarization (P⊥), where the magnitude of P⊥ is modulated by the intercalant size. Validated across eight polar materials, this approach achieves virtually 100% yield and reproducibility with defined scrolling direction, surpassing external driving force limitations. The nanoscrolls exhibit layer-independent inversion symmetry breaking and coherently enhanced second-harmonic generation, exceeding two-dimensional flakes by ~100-fold and rivalling leading two-dimensional nonlinear materials. Electrochemical initiation further facilitates metal-ion co-intercalation, yielding ten hybrid nanoscroll architectures. These findings establish a scalable route to create one-dimensional nanostructures and hybrid heterostructures, paving the way for designer quantum solids and van der Waals superlattices in quantum nanodevices.

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Fig. 1: Intercalation-mediated geometry engineering for the controllable synthesis of 1D nanoscrolls and 2D flakes of polar vdW materials.
Fig. 2: Structural and composition characterizations of 1D M3X8 and M3QX7 nanoscrolls.
Fig. 3: Rolling orientation of 1D M3X8 and M3QX7 nanoscrolls.
Fig. 4: Rolling mechanism of the 1D M3X8 and M3QX7 nanoscrolls by electrochemical molecular intercalation and exfoliation.
Fig. 5: SHG response from the 1D M3X8 and M3QX7 nanoscrolls.

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Acknowledgements

Z.L. acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 22375041), the Start-up Research Fund of Southeast University (grant number RF1028623202) and the Open Research Fund of the Key Laboratory of Quantum Materials and Devices (Southeast University), Ministry of Education. J.L. acknowledges support from MOE Tier 2 grants (MOE-T2EP10223-0004 and MOE-T2EP10124-0004). Z.N. acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number T2321002) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, Major Project (BK20222007). X.Z. acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 22176183). J.-J.Z. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 12404102) and the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Province (grant number BK20230806), the Big Data Center of Southeast University, for providing the computational resource. D.W. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 12204099) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, Young Scientist Fund (BK20210200). We thank H. Feng for the TEM test from the Analysis and Testing Center of Southeast University and the Center for Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences of Southeast University for support in superconducting quantum interference device and SHG measurements.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Zhi Zhang, Yuwei Zhang, Kangjun Lu, Jun-Jie Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Quantum Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

    Zhi Zhang, Yuwei Zhang, Kangjun Lu, Jun-Jie Zhang, Nannan Zhang, Rui Feng, Haoran Ye, Linglong Li, Dongyang Wan, Junpeng Lu, Zhenhua Ni, Jinlan Wang, Qian Chen & Zejun Li

  2. School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Xiaoli Zhou

  3. Purple Mountain Laboratories, Nanjing, China

    Zhenhua Ni & Zejun Li

  4. Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Jiong Lu

  5. Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Jiong Lu

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Contributions

Z.L. supervised the project and organized the collaborations. Z.L., J.L. and Z.Z. conceived and designed the experiments. Z.Z., Y.Z. and D.W. conducted the materials synthesis, SHG measurements and data analysis. K.L., J.-J.Z. and Q.C. contributed to the theoretical calculations and analysis. N.Z., R.F. and X.Z. helped with the materials synthesis and data analysis. H.Y. and L.L. contributed to the atomic force microscopy measurements. J.L., Z.N. and J.W. participated in the discussion and analysis. Z.L., Z.Z. and J.L. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and have given approval to the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dongyang Wan, Qian Chen, Jiong Lu or Zejun Li.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 The lattice structures of M3X8 and M3QX7.

a, Side-view structure model of the stacked M and X atomic layers in the M3X8 vdW lattice. The black dash frames label two different sizes of M-M atomic spacings. b, Breathing-kagome lattice structure consisting of M atoms in the top view of the M3X8 lattices. The green regions mark the two types of M-triangles in the breathing-kagome lattice consisting of different M-M spacings. c, Side-view structure model of the stacked M and X atomic layers in the M3QX7 vdW lattice. d, Breathing-kagome lattice structure consisting of M atoms in the top view of the M3QX7 lattices. The green regions mark the two types of M-triangles in the breathing-kagome lattice consisting of different M-M spacings.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Structural characterization of Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7.

a and b, XRD pattern of the single crystals, powders and exfoliated nanoscrolls of Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7. c and d, HRTEM images of 2D Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 flakes. e and f, The corresponding FFT pattern of 2D Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 flakes. Labeling corresponds to the planes in the HRTEM images.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 3 Electrochemical intercalation and exfoliation of M3X8 and M3QX7 single crystals and morphological characterization of 1D nanoscrolls.

a, Images of as-grown single crystals of Nb3Cl8, Nb3SeI7, and their alloys. b, A crystal sandwiched in a Ti chip and secured with PTFE tape serving as electrochemical cathode (left). A two-electrode device using TBAC-PC as the intercalant to exfoliate the M3X8 and M3QX7 single crystal, demonstrating the dramatic expansion and detachment of the crystals during the exfoliation process (right). c and d, Statistical histograms of the length and diameter distributions of 1D Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 nanoscrolls. The number of statistics per category is 360. \(\bar{\text{L}}\) and \(\bar{\text{D}}\) are the average length and diameter, respectively. e and f, AFM surface topography of 1D Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 nanoscrolls.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 4 Rolling orientation of the 1D M3X8 and M3QX7 nanoscrolls prepared from a different batch of samples.

a-d, TEM images and SAED patterns at two separate region-i and region-ii along the axis of Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 nanoscrolls, showing the rolling orientation along [100] direction. e-h, TEM images and FFT patterns at two separate region-i and region-ii along the axis of Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 nanoscrolls, showing the rolling orientation along [\(\bar{1}20\)] direction. The model diagrams in (b), (d), (f), and (h) correspond to the cross-sectional schematics of the nanoscrolls in (a), (c), (e), and (g), respectively. The ‘⊗’ denotes the direction perpendicular to the page and inward.

Extended Data Fig. 5 DFT calculations of monolayer Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 tube rolling along [\(\bar{1}20\)].

a, The total energy (E) as a function of bending curvature (ϰ) for Nb3Cl8 tube models rolling along [\(\bar{1}20\)], where the energy of the 2D flake structures is set as zero. b, The total energy (E) as a function of bending curvature (ϰ) for Nb3SeI7 tube models rolling along [\(\bar{1}20\)], where the energy of the 2D flake structures is set as zero. R, Rc, and D represent the radius, the energy-minimizing radius, and the flexural rigidity, respectively.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 6 Structural analysis of the monolayer Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7.

a, Schematic structure of monolayer Nb3Cl8. The black dash frame marks the tetrahedra of two sizes consisting of the Nb-triangles and the vertices Cl atoms. In the smaller tetrahedra, the Nb-Cl-Nb bond angle is 69.5°, the Nb-Cl bond length is 2.43 Å, and the Nb-Nb distance is 2.77 Å. Whereas the Nb-Cl-Nb bond angle is 96.4°, the Nb-Cl bond length is 2.69 Å, and the Nb-Nb distance is 4.01 Å in the larger tetrahedra. b, Schematic structure of monolayer Nb3SeI7. The black dash frame marks the tetrahedra of two sizes consisting of the Nb-triangles and the vertices atoms (I and Se). In the smaller tetrahedra, the Nb-Se-Nb bond angle is 75.5°, the Nb-Se bond length is 2.58 Å, and the Nb-Nb distance is 3.16 Å. Whereas the Nb-I-Nb bond angle is 97.7°, the Nb-I bond length is 2.96 Å, and the Nb-Nb distance is 4.46 Å in the larger tetrahedra.

Extended Data Fig. 7 Differential charge density of Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7.

Charge density diagrams of the distorted (State I) and undistorted (State MID) phases of Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 in the c-direction. State II demonstrates the differential charge density diagram for Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 obtained from the State I-State MID. The State I and State MID isosurface values are 0.147 e/Bohr3, and the State II isosurface value is 0.063 e/Bohr3 in a. The State I and State MID isosurface values are 0.115 e/Bohr3, and the State II isosurface value is 0.045 e/Bohr3 in b. P⊥ represent out-of-plane polarization.

Extended Data Fig. 8 Variation of the electrostatic potential for Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 rolling along [\(\bar{1}20\)].

a, Plane-averaged electrostatic potentials along the z-axis of Nb3Cl8 planar layers and along the radial direction of Nb3Cl8 nanoscrolls. b, Plane-averaged electrostatic potentials along the z-axis of Nb3SeI7 planar layers and along the radial direction of Nb3SeI7 nanoscrolls. P⊥, d0, and Φ represent out-of-plane polarization, thickness of a single layer, and diameter, respectively.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 9 SHG properties of Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7.

a and b, Wavelength-dependent SHG response of 1D Nb3Cl8 and Nb3SeI7 nanoscrolls from 750 nm to 950 nm. The power is constant at different wavelengths. ω is the frequency of the second-harmonic light. c, SHG response of several randomly selected 1D Nb3Cl8 nanoscrolls on SiO2/Si substrate. d, Enlarged SHG response with increasing thickness in 2D Nb3SeI7 flake. e, SHG response of several randomly selected 1D Nb3SeI7 nanoscrolls on SiO2/Si substrate. f, Polarization-resolved SHG measurements of individual Nb3SeI7 nanoscroll.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 10 Structural and composition characterizations of the 1D Nb3SeI7 and Nb3Cl8 metal-ions-imbedded hybrid nanoscrolls.

a, Schematic illustration of the electrochemical setup used for the co-intercalation of metal ions. b, Side-view structure model of metal-ions-imbedded hybrid nanoscrolls. c-l, Elemental mapping images of the 1D Nb3SeI7 and Nb3Cl8 metal-ions-imbedded hybrid nanoscrolls. The scale bars for (c-h) and (i-l) are 100 nm and 50 nm, respectively.

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Zhang, Z., Zhang, Y., Lu, K. et al. Near-100% spontaneous rolling up of polar van der Waals materials. Nat. Mater. 24, 1716–1725 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02357-w

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