Phosphorene: a Potential 2D Material for Highly Efficient Polysulfide Trapping and Conversion

Effectively trapping lithium polysulfide species and accelerating the reaction conversion kinetics are the main strategies to improve the performance of lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries. Since the researchers found in 2014 that two-dimensional(2D) phosphorene nanosheets could be exfoliated from the bulk black phosphorus, numerous researches have been devoted to exploring the phosphorene with unique properties for the application in Li-S batteries. In this review, we summarize the recent theoretical and experimental progress of phosphorene for Li-S batteries. Besides, we also introduce the relationship between the interfacial interaction on phosphorene and the performance enhancement of Li-S batteries. Furthermore, future challenges and remaining opportunities for phosphorene in Li-S batteries are finally discussed.     

The Covalent Functionalization of Layered Black Phosphorus by Nucleophilic Reagents

Layered black phosphorus has been attracting great attention due to its interesting material properties which lead to a plethora of proposed applications. Several approaches are demonstrated here for covalent chemical modifications of layered black phosphorus in order to form P−C and P‐O‐C bonds. Nucleophilic reagents are highly effective for chemical modification of black phosphorus. Further derivatization approaches investigated were based on radical reactions. These reagents are not as effective as nucleophilic reagents for the surface covalent modification of black phosphorus. The influence of covalent modification on the electronic structure of black phosphorus was investigated using ab initio calculations. Covalent modification exerts a strong effect on the electronic structure including the change of band‐gap width and spin polarization.     

Enhanced Catalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Phosphorene Nanosheet via Cobalt Intercalation

Searching alternatives to Pt-based catalyst for producing hydrogen via water splitting has gathered enormous attention to develop renewable energy. Phosphorene has been investigated widely for its large surface area, low cost, and high carrier mobility, however, the poor activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and low conductivity limit its practical application. Herein, on the basis of first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that the catalytic HER in phosphorene can be enhanced significantly with cobalt intercalations. The Co-intercalated phosphorene is metallic with charge transfer from Co atoms to phosphorene, which could enhance the catalytic activity of phosphorene. In addition, the calculated Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption on Co-intercalated phosphorene bilayer is comparable to that on Pt(111) surface, independent of the degree of hydrogen coverage. Our study implies that the Co intercalation provides an effective approach to enhance the catalytic HER inphosphorene.     

Artificial graphenes: Dirac matter beyond condensed matter

After the discovery of graphene and of its many fascinating properties, there has been a growing interest for the study of “artificial graphenes”. These are totally different and novel systems that bear exciting similarities with graphene. Among them are lattices of ultracold atoms, microwave or photonic lattices, “molecular graphene” or new compounds like phosphorene. The advantage of these structures is that they serve as new playgrounds for measuring and testing physical phenomena that may not be reachable in graphene, in particular the possibility of controlling the existence of Dirac points (or Dirac cones) existing in the electronic spectrum of graphene, of performing interference experiments in reciprocal space, of probing geometrical properties of the wave functions, of manipulating edge states, etc. These cones, which describe the band structure in the vicinity of the two connected energy bands, are characterized by a topological “charge”. They can be moved in the reciprocal space by appropriate modification of external parameters (pressure, twist, sliding, stress, etc.). They can be manipulated, created or suppressed under the condition that the total topological charge be conserved. In this short review, I discuss several aspects of the scenarios of merging or emergence of Dirac points as well as the experimental investigations of these scenarios in condensed matter and beyond.     

Electronic and structural properties of black phosphorene doped with Si,B and N

The electronic and structural properties of substitutional and doped phosphorene with B, N and Si were studied using first principles calculations based on density functional theory. Moreover, electronic and structural properties of functionalized phosphorene slowly increasing the concentration of doping was investigated. Phosphorene strongly binds with doped functionalization; B doped phosphorene is the most stable configuration studied. Si doped phosphorene maintains the semiconductor characteristic. B and N doped phosphorene present n-type and p-type semiconductors, respectively. Doped phosphorene with odd number of Si is a semiconductor material, doped phosphorene with an odd number of B has n-type semiconductor characteristic, and doped phosphorene with odd number of N atoms has a p-type semiconductor behaviour. Doped phosphorene with even number of Si has a metallic characteristic, while B and N doped phosphorene with even number present a semiconductor behaviour. This work reveals that phosphorene electronic properties could be changed by introducing the dopants on the system, and the properties are affected by the increasing number of dopants on phosphorene sheet.     

本征及掺杂磷烯对2,3,7,8-TCDD吸附机理的计算模拟研究

2,3,7,8-四氯二苯并对二噁英(2,3,7,8-TCDD)是二噁英家族中危害人类和环境最显著的一种.设计一种高效,灵敏的吸附剂来检测和去除2,3,7,8-TCDD对人类和环境的影响是亟需解决的问题.本研究利用基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的计算模拟方法探索了本征磷烯对2,3,7,8-TCDD的吸附机理,并详细考察了掺杂Ti, Fe, Ca, Al金属原子后磷烯对2,3,7,8-TCDD吸附的影响.研究结果表明2,3,7,8-TCDD初始构型会影响磷烯对其吸附,当平躺于磷烯表面时有较大的吸附.而且掺杂金属原子的磷烯对2,3,7,8-TCDD的吸附也存在较大的影响,掺杂金属原子均增大了磷烯对2,3,7,8-TCDD的吸附,其中Ca掺杂磷烯>Fe掺杂磷烯>Ti掺杂磷烯>Al掺杂磷烯.研究结论对于2,3,7,8-TCDD的处理带来了新的思考方向,有望为二噁英的检测和去除提供有用的理论指导.     

Mechanical properties of kirigami phosphorene via molecular dynamics simulation

The newly discovered two-dimensional phosphorene suffers low stretchability which limits its application in flexible devices. Herein we employ kirigami technique to overcome this limitation. Molecular dynamics simulation is employed to investigate the mechanical properties of kirigami-phosphorene under shear and tensile loadings. Our simulation results show that loading type, intrinsic structural anisotropy, and the height of middle cuts are three key factors that govern the mechanical response of kirigami-phosphorene. Under the tensile loading along the armchair direction, phosphorene exhibits a considerable increase in its tensile strain. By contrast, phosphorene is too weak to stand any structural modification induced by kirigami in the zigzag direction. Under shear loading, there is merely no improvement in the shear properties of kirigami-phosphorene. Our results demonstrate the prospective applications of kirigami-phosphorene along the armchair direction in modern wearable, and stretchable electronics and optoelectronics devices.     

Phosphorene-Based van der Waals Heterojunction for Solar Water Splitting

As a clean and renewable future energy source, hydrogen fuel can be produced via solar water splitting. Two-dimensional (2D) black phosphorene (black-P) can harvest visible light due to the desirable band gap, which promises it as a metal-free photocatalyst. However, black-P can be only used to produce hydrogen since the oxidation potential of water locates lower than the position of the valence band maximum. To improve the photocatalytic performance of black-P, here, using black-P and blue phosphorene (blue-P) monolayers, we propose a 2D van der Waals (vdW) heterojunction. Theoretical results, including the band structures, density of states, Bader charge population, charge density di erence, and optical absorption spectra, clearly reveal that the visible light absorption ability is obviously improved, and the band edge alignment of the proposed vdW heterojunction displays a typical type-II feature to effectively separate the photogenerated carriers. At the same time, the built-in interfacialelectric field prevents the electron-hole recombination. These predictions suggest that the examined phosphorene-based vdW heterojunction is an efficient photocatalyst for solar water splitting.     

The giant Stark effect in armchair-edge phosphorene nanoribbons under a transverse electric field

We study the variation of electronic properties for armchair-edge phosphorene nanoribbons (APNRs) modulated by a transverse electric field. Within the tight-binding model Hamiltonian, and by solving the differential Schrödinger equation, we find that a band gap closure appears at the critical field due to the giant Stark effect for an APNR. The gap closure has no field polarity, and the gap varies quadratically for small fields but becomes linear for larger ones. We attribute the giant Stark effect to the broken edge degeneracy, i.e., the charge redistributions of the conduction band minimum and valence band maximum states localized at opposite edges induced by the field. By combined with the Green's function approach, it is shown that in the presence of the critical field a gap of density of states (DOS) disappears and a high value DOS turns up at the energy position of the band gap closure. Finally, as the field increases, we find the band gap decreases more rapidly and the gap closure occurs at smaller fields for wider ribbons. Both the band gap and DOS variations with the field show an insulator-metal transition induced by a transverse electric field for the APNR. Our results show that wider APNRs are more appreciable to design field-effect transistors.     

磷烯基二维范德瓦尔斯异质结的理论表征

本文基于单层黑磷和蓝磷,理论设计出二维范德瓦尔斯异质结、能带结构、态密度、Bader电荷布局、电荷密度差分图及光吸收谱等,计算结果表明它是典型的第二型异质结,有利于光生载流子分离,且可见光捕获能力显著增强.内禀的界面极化电场能有效阻止光生电子-空穴的复合.表明磷烯基二维范德瓦尔斯异质结是一类性能优异的光解水催化剂.