A study was made of the structural stability of exfoliated monolayer MnO2 sheets. The study revealed that monolayer MnO2 sheets exhibited two specific kinds of structural modification under electron irradiation. An atomic reconstruction (2 x 1) and a phase of MnO, induced by ordered oxygen vacancies, were identified by transmission electron microscopy techniques and further characterized by comparison with density-functional theory calculations. These findings were expected to broaden significantly the current knowledge of the structural stability of ultra-thin layered sheets.

Oxygen Vacancy Induced Structural Variations of Exfoliated Monolayer MnO2 Sheets. Y.Wang, C.Sun, J.Zou, L.Wang, S.Smith, G.Q.Lu, D.J.H.Cockayne: Physical Review B, 2010, 81[8], 081401