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Dense bulk samples of (Ag,In)‐co‐doped Cu2SnSe3 have been prepared by a fast and one‐step method of combustion synthesis, and their thermoelectric properties have been investigated from 323 to 823 K. The experimental results show that Ag‐doping at Cu site remarkably enhances the Seebeck coefficient, reduces both electrical and thermal conductivities, and finally increases the figure of merit (ZT) value. The ZT of the Cu1.85Ag0.15SnSe3 sample reaches 0.80 at 773 K, which is improved by about 70% compared with the unadulterated sample (ZT = 0.46 at 773 K). First principle calculation indicates that Ag‐doping changes the electronic structure of Cu2SnSe3 and results in larger effective mass of carriers, thus enhancing the Seebeck coefficient and reducing the electrical conductivity. The low electrical conductivity caused by Ag‐doping can be repaired by accompanying In‐doping at Sn site, and by (Ag,In)‐co‐doping the thermoelectric properties are further promoted. The (Ag,In)‐co‐doped sample of Cu1.85Ag0.15Sn0.9In0.1Se3 shows the maximum ZT of 1.42 at 823 K, which is likely the best result for Cu2SnSe3‐based materials up to now. This work indicates that co‐doping may provide an effective solution to optimize the conflicting material properties for increasing ZT.

The structures, stabilities, and electronic properties of monolayer black phosphorus (M-BP) with different kinds of defects are investigated within the frame of density-functional theory. All the possible configurations of defects in M-BP are explored, and the calculated results suggest that the stabilities of the configurations with different kinds of defects are greatly related to broken bonds, structural deformation and the character of the bonding. The configurations with two or three vacancies are energetically more favorable than the ones with a single vacancy. Meanwhile, the doping of two foreign atoms, such as sulfur, silicon or aluminum, is more stable than that of the corresponding single dopant. The electronic properties of M-BP are greatly affected by the types of defects. The single S-doped M-BP not only retains the character of a direct semiconductor, but it also can enlarge the band gap by 0.24 eV relative to the perfect one. Such results reveal that the defects not only greatly affect the electronic properties, but they also can be used as an effective way to modulate the band gap for the different applications of M-BP in electronic devices.

The unprecedented ultrahigh interlayer stiffness of supported two-layer epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide (SiC) has been recently reported by our research group. We found that under localized pressure a two-layer epitaxial graphene behaves as an ultra-hard and ultrastiff coating, showing exceptional mechanical properties that far exceed those of bare SiC. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that this unique behavior stems from a sp 2-to-sp 3 reversible phase transition of carbon films under compression, leading to a single-layer diamond-like structure that we called diamene. In this paper, force versus indentation depth curves from high-resolution nanoindentation experiments of CVD diamond and sapphire are carried out and compared to those obtained from two-layer epitaxial graphene on SiC. These new measurements confirm that the stiffness of epitaxial graphene is larger than that exhibited by CVD diamond and sapphire substrates. Our measurements show that areas of the film consisting of buffer layer plus one, or at most two, additional graphene layers are the ones most likely to exhibit phasechanging behaviors and larger-than-diamond stiffness.