For the exfoliated membranes, the peak corresponding to the (101) basal plane was the most intense, indicating that the cleavage predominantly occurred perpendicular to these planes. Lattice compression during exfoliation resulted in a shift of the (101) peak (Figure ) to higher 2θ positions in the membranes, which corresponds to a decrease in the lattice spacing between (101) planes to 4.18 Å from 4.91 Å in bulk.