Exotic Electronic Properties of 2D Nanosheets Isolated from Liquid Phase Exfoliated Phyllosilicate Minerals

Wei, Cencen ; Roy, Abhijit (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Tripathi, Manoj ; Aljarid, Adel K.A. ; Salvage, Jonathan P. ; Roe, S. Mark ; Arenal, Raul ; Boland, Conor S.

Resumen: Spectrally inactive, electrically insulating, and chemically inert are adjectives broadly used to describe phyllosilicate minerals like mica and chlorite. Here, the above is disproved by demonstrating aqueous suspensions of liquid exfoliated nanosheets from five bulk mica types and chlorite schist. Nanosheet quality is confirmed via transmission electron and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopies, as well as electron diffraction. Through Raman spectroscopy, a previously unreported size‐ and layer‐dependent spectral fingerprint is observed. When analyzing the high‐yield suspensions (≈1 mg mL−1) through UV–vis spectroscopy, all phyllosilicates present bandgap (Eg) narrowing from ≈7 eV in the bulk to ≈4 eV for monolayers. Unusually, the bandgap is inversely proportional to the areal size (A) of the nanosheets, measured via atomic force microscopy. Due to an unrecorded quantum confinement effect, nanosheet electronic properties scale toward semiconducting behavior (bandgap ≈3 eV) as nanosheet area increases. Furthermore, modeling X‐ray diffraction spectra shows that the root cause of the initial bandgap narrowing is lattice relaxation. Finally, with their broad range of isomorphically substituted ions, phyllosilicate nanosheets show remarkable catalytic properties for hydrogen production.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1002/adma.202303570

Año: 2023

Publicado en: Advanced materials 35, 39 (2023), 2303570 [10 pp.]
ISSN: 0935-9648

Factor impacto JCR: 27.4 (2023)

Categ. JCR: CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL rank: 4 / 178 = 0.022 (2023) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY rank: 11 / 439 = 0.025 (2023) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: NANOSCIENCE & NANOTECHNOLOGY rank: 4 / 141 = 0.028 (2023) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: PHYSICS, CONDENSED MATTER rank: 3 / 79 = 0.038 (2023) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY rank: 5 / 231 = 0.022 (2023) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: PHYSICS, APPLIED rank: 6 / 179 = 0.034 (2023) - Q1 - T1

Factor impacto CITESCORE: 43.0 - Mechanical Engineering (Q1) - Materials Science (all) (Q1) - Mechanics of Materials (Q1)

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 9.191 - Materials Science (miscellaneous) (Q1) - Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Q1) - Mechanics of Materials (Q1) - Mechanical Engineering (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E13-20R
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/823717/EU/Enabling Science and Technology through European Electron Microscopy/ESTEEM3
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN-AEI/PID2019-104739GB-I00/AEI-10.13039-501100011033

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Física Materia Condensada (Dpto. Física Materia Condensa.)