0000000000003840
AUTHOR
Mhamed Assebban
Exfoliation of Alpha-Germanium: A Covalent Diamond-Like Structure
2D materials have opened a new field in materials science with outstanding scientific and technological impact. A largely explored route for the preparation of 2D materials is the exfoliation of layered crystals with weak forces between their layers. However, its application to covalent crystals remains elusive. Herein, a further step is taken by introducing the exfoliation of germanium, a narrow-bandgap semiconductor presenting a 3D diamond-like structure with strong covalent bonds. Pure α-germanium is exfoliated following a simple one-step procedure assisted by wet ball-milling, allowing gram-scale fabrication of high-quality layers with large lateral dimensions and nanometer thicknesses.…
Phonon properties and photo-thermal oxidation of micromechanically exfoliated antimonene nanosheets
Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) sheets of antimonene have attracted increasing attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties prompting potential for diverse applications. We present a facile method to prepare high-quality antimonene nanosheets (ANSs) by micromechanical exfoliation on SiO2/Si substrate. The temperature- and laser power-dependent Raman studies of exfoliated ANSs are reported and analyzed. It was found that both the out-of-plane A1g and the in-plane Eg modes red-shift linearly with increase in temperature, pointing towards anharmonic vibrations of the lattice. The thermal response of the ANSs on a SiO2/Si surface is also described using numerical simulation of t…
Unveiling the oxidation behavior of liquid-phase exfoliated antimony nanosheets
Abstract Antimonene, a monolayer of β-antimony, is increasingly attracting considerable attention, more than that of other monoelemental two-dimensional materials, due to its intriguing physical and chemical properties. Under ambient conditions, antimonene exhibits a high thermodynamic stability and good structural integrity. Some theoretical calculations predicted that antimonene would have a high oxidation tendency. However, it remains poorly investigated from the experimental point of view. In this work, we study the oxidation behavior of antimonene nanosheets (ANS) prepared by ultrasonication-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation. Using a set of forefront analytical techniques, a clear effe…
Continuous‐Flow Synthesis of High‐Quality Few‐Layer Antimonene Hexagons
2D materials show outstanding properties that can bring many applications in different technological fields. However, their uses are still limited by production methods. In this context, antimonene is recently suggested as a new 2D material to fabricate different (opto)electronic devices, among other potential applications. This work focuses on optimizing the synthetic parameters to produce high-quality antimonene hexagons and their implementation in a large-scale manufacturing procedure. By means of a continuous-flow synthesis, few-layer antimonene hexagons with ultra-large lateral dimensions (up to several microns) and a few nanometers thick are isolated. The suitable chemical post-treatm…
Insights into the formation of metal carbon nanocomposites for energy storage using hybrid NiFe layered double hydroxides as precursors
[EN] NiFe-carbon magnetic nanocomposites prepared using hybrid sebacate intercalated layered double hydroxides (LDHs) as precursors are shown to be of interest as supercapacitors. Here, the low-temperature formation mechanism of these materials has been deciphered by means of a combined study using complementaryin situ(temperature-dependent) techniques. Specifically, studies involving X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetry coupled to mass spectrometry (TG-MS), statistical Raman spectroscopy (SRS), aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) have been carried out. The experimental results confirm the early formation o…
Two-Dimensional Antimony Oxide
Two-dimensional (2D) antimony, so-called antimonene, can form antimonene oxide when exposed to air. We present different types of single- and few-layer antimony oxide structures, based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Depending on stoichiometry and bonding type, these novel 2D layers have different structural stability and electronic properties, ranging from topological insulators to semiconductors with direct and indirect band gaps between 2.0 and 4.9 eV. We discuss their vibrational properties and Raman spectra for experimental identification of the predicted structures.
Interface Amorphization of Two‐Dimensional Black Phosphorus upon Treatment with Diazonium Salts
Abstract Two‐dimensional (2D) black phosphorus (BP) represents one of the most appealing 2D materials due to its electronic, optical, and chemical properties. Many strategies have been pursued to face its environmental instability, covalent functionalization being one of the most promising. However, the extremely low functionalization degrees and the limitations in proving the nature of the covalent functionalization still represent challenges in many of these sheet architectures reported to date. Here we shine light on the structural evolution of 2D‐BP upon the addition of electrophilic diazonium salts. We demonstrated the absence of covalent functionalization in both the neutral and the r…
Liquid phase exfoliation of antimonene: systematic optimization, characterization and electrocatalytic properties
Antimonene, a novel group 15 two-dimensional material, is attracting great attention due to its outstanding physical and chemical properties. Despite its thermodynamic stability, the pronounced covalent character of the interlayer interactions imposes severe limitations on its exfoliation into mono- and few-layer. Here, we develop a systematic study of liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) with the aim to optimize antimonene production in terms of concentration and dimensional anisotropy, investigating the most relevant experimental factors affecting the exfoliation: pre-processing of pristine antimony, solvent selection based on Hansen solubility parameters and ultrasound conditions. Moreover, ex…
Antimonene: a tuneable post-graphene material for advanced applications in optoelectronics, catalysis, energy and biomedicine
The post-graphene era is undoubtedly marked by two-dimensional (2D) materials such as quasi-van der Waals antimonene. This emerging material has a fascinating structure, exhibits a pronounced chemical reactivity (in contrast to graphene), possesses outstanding electronic properties and has been postulated for a plethora of applications. However, chemistry and physics of antimonene remain in their infancy, but fortunately recent discoveries have shed light on its unmatched allotropy and rich chemical reactivity offering a myriad of unprecedented possibilities in terms of fundamental studies and applications. Indeed, antimonene can be considered as one of the most appealing post-graphene 2D m…