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Bandgap Engineering of Hydroxy-Functionalized Borophene for Superior Photo-Electrochemical Performance |
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| Authors: | Dr Xin Wang Dr Junwu Liang Dr Qi You Dr Jiaqi Zhu Dr Feier Fang Prof Yuanjiang Xiang Prof Jun Song |
| Institution: | 1. Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics (IMO), Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060 China;2. School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, Yulin Normal University, Yulin, 537000 China
These authors contributed equally to this work.;3. Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics (IMO), Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060 China These authors contributed equally to this work.;4. School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 China;5. College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Key Lab of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education/Guangdong Province, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060 China |
| Abstract: | Two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting boron nanosheets (few-layer borophene) have been theoretically predicted, but their band gap tunability has not been experimentally confirmed. In this study, hydroxy-functionalized borophene (borophene-OH) with tunable band gap was fabricated by liquid-phase exfoliation using 2-butanol solvent. Surface-energy matching between boron and 2-butanol produced smooth borophene, and the exposed unsaturated B sites generated by B−B bond breaking during exfoliation coordinated with OH groups to form semiconducting borophene-OH, enabling a tunable band gap of 0.65–2.10 eV by varying its thickness. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements demonstrated that the use of borophene-OH to fabricate working electrodes for PEC-type photodetectors significantly enhanced the photocurrent density (5.0 μA cm−2) and photoresponsivity (58.5 μA W−1) compared with other 2D monoelemental materials. Thus, borophene-OH is a promising semiconductor with great optoelectronic potential. |
| Keywords: | bandgap engineering boron borophene photodetector two-dimensional semiconductor |