Antimonene: From Experimental Preparation to Practical Application

The two‐dimensional material antimonene was first reported in 2015. Subsequently, its unique properties, including enhanced stability, high carrier mobility, and band‐gap tunability, were predicted theoretically. These theoretical results have motivated experimental confirmation and thus a better understanding of this new material. Recently, the preparation of antimonene and its attempted use in several applications have attracted extensive attention. This Minireview focuses on both the experimental preparation and practical applications of antimonene, including the results of recent research on novel methods of preparing antimonene and its potential applications in optoelectronic devices, electrocatalysis, energy storage, and cancer therapy. Moreover, it provides insight that could further improve the preparation of antimonene and also describes numerous opportunities for application.     

Bandgap‐Tunable Preparation of Smooth and Large Two‐Dimensional Antimonene

As a highly stable band gap semiconductor, antimonene is an intriguing two‐dimensional (2D) material in optoelectronics. However, its short layer distance and strong binding energy make it challenging to prepare high‐quality large 2D antimonene; therefore, its predicted tunable band gap has not been experimentally confirmed. Now, an approach to prepare smooth and large 2D antimonene with uniform layers that uses a pregrinding and subsequent sonication‐assisted liquid‐phase exfoliation process has been established. Mortar pregrinding provides a shear force along the layer surfaces, forming large, thin antimony plates, which can then easily be exfoliated into smooth, large antimonene, avoiding long sonication times and antimonene destruction. The resulting antimonene also enabled verification of the tunable band gap from 0.8 eV to 1.44 eV. Hole extraction and current enhancement by about 30 % occurred when the antimonene was used as a hole transport layer in perovskite solar cells.     

锑烯吸附金属Li原子的密度泛函研究

锑烯(antimonene)是继石墨烯和磷烯之后出现的新型二维材料,在锂离子电池等领域受到关注.本文基于第一性原理的密度泛函理论,计算研究了锑烯对Li原子的吸附特性,包括Li原子的最稳定吸附构型、吸附密度以及吸附Li原子的扩散路径.结果表明:Li原子最稳定的吸附位置位于谷位,即底层Sb原子之上、顶层三个Sb原子中心位置,吸附能为1.69 eV,吸附距离为2.81?;能带计算发现,锑烯为带隙宽度1.08 eV的间接带隙半导体,吸附Li原子后费米能级上升进入导带,呈现出金属性;原子分波态密度分析发现, Sb原子的p电子态和Li原子的p和s电子态形成明显的共振交叠,表现出杂化成键的特征;随着吸附Li原子数量增加,锑烯晶格结构和电子结构发生较大变化.通过微动弹性带方法计算发现, Li原子在锑烯表面的扩散势垒为0.07 eV,较小的势垒高度有利于快速充放电过程.     

β型锑烯热电输运性质的第一性原理研究

利用第一性原理与半经典玻尔兹曼方程，计算并分析β型锑烯的声子色散、声子群速度、声子弛豫时间、晶格热导率及不同温度下的塞贝克系数、电导率和电子热导率随化学势的变化；结果表明：β型锑烯由于非平面六角结构，三支声学声子在Γ点附近均呈线性变化；声学声子对整个晶格热导率的贡献高达96.68%，而光学声子仅仅占到3.32%；由于较大的声光带隙（a-o gap）导致LA支在声子群速度和弛豫时间中占据主导地位，从而增大了LA支声子对整个热导的贡献；热电优值随温度的升高而增大，在费米面附近其绝对值最大可达0.275.     

Epitaxial growth of highly strained antimonene on Ag(111)

The synthesis of antimonene, which is a promising group-V 2D material for both fundamental studies and technological applications, remains highly challenging. Thus far, it has been synthesized only by exfoliation or growth on a few substrates. In this study, we show that thin layers of antimonene can be grown on Ag(111) by molecular beam epitaxy. High-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy combined with theoretical calculations revealed that the submonolayer Sb deposited on a Ag(111) surface forms a layer of AgSb₂ surface alloy upon annealing. Further deposition of Sb on the AgSb₂ surface alloy causes an epitaxial layer of Sb to form, which is identified as antimonene with a buckled honeycomb structure. More interestingly, the lattice constant of the epitaxial antimonene (5 Å) is much larger than that of freestanding antimonene, indicating a high tensile strain of more than 20%. This kind of large strain is expected to make the antimonene a highly promising candidate for roomtemperature quantum spin Hall material.     

Magnetic proximity effect induced spin splitting in two-dimensional antimonene/Fe3GeTe2 van der Waals heterostructures

Recently, two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) magnetic heterostructures have attracted intensive attention since they can show remarkable properties due to the magnetic proximity effect. In this work, the spin-polarized electronic structures of antimonene/Fe₃GeTe₂ vdW heterostructures were investigated through the first-principles calculations. Owing to the magnetic proximity effect, the spin splitting appears at the conduction-band minimum (CBM) and the valence-band maximum (VBM) of the antimonene. A low-energy effective Hamiltonian was proposed to depict the spin splitting. It was found that the spin splitting can be modulated by means of applying an external electric field, changing interlayer distance or changing stacking configuration. The spin splitting energy at the CBM monotonously increases as the external electric field changes from -5 V/nm to 5 V/nm, while the spin splitting energy at the VBM almost remains the same. Meanwhile, as the interlayer distance increases, the spin splitting energies at the CBM and VBM both decrease. The different stacking configurations can also induce different spin splitting energies at the CBM and VBM. Our work demonstrates that the spin splitting of antimonene in this heterostructure is not singly dependent on the nearest Sb—Fe distance, which indicates that magnetic proximity effect in heterostructures may be modulated by multiple factors, such as hybridization of electronic states and the local electronic environment. The results enrich the fundamental understanding of the magnetic proximity effect in two-dimensional vdW heterostructures.     

Few‐Layer Antimonene by Liquid‐Phase Exfoliation

We report on a fast and simple method to produce highly stable isopropanol/water (4:1) suspensions of few‐layer antimonene by liquid‐phase exfoliation of antimony crystals in a process that is assisted by sonication but does not require the addition of any surfactant. This straightforward method generates dispersions of few‐layer antimonene suitable for on‐surface isolation. Analysis by atomic force microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and electron energy loss spectroscopy confirmed the formation of high‐quality few‐layer antimonene nanosheets with large lateral dimensions. These nanolayers are extremely stable under ambient conditions. Their Raman signals are strongly thickness‐dependent, which was rationalized by means of density functional theory calculations.     

基于锑烯纳米片的被动调Q激光器

为了探索二维材料作为被动调Q激光器的可饱和吸收体的更多可能性,利用预研磨液相剥离法(LPE)制备出锑烯纳米片,并借助拉曼光谱、X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、原子力显微镜(AFM)、UV-Vis-NIR分光光度计对样品的物相组成、微观结构及吸收性能进行表征。将锑烯纳米片作为可饱和吸收体首次在1.3 μm发射波长的Nd∶GYAP全固态激光器实现被动调Q,其最短脉冲宽度为589 ns,重复频率为424 kHz,峰值功率为1.14 W,平均输出功率为284 mW,最大单脉冲能量为669.43 nJ。实验证明了锑烯纳米片具有在近红外区域作为全固态调Q激光器的可饱和吸收体的潜力。