2D van der Waals crystals, possessing excellent electronic and physical properties, have been intriguing building blocks for organic optoelectronic devices. Most of the 2D materials are served as hole transport layers in organic devices. Here,it is reported that solution exfoliated few layers black phosphorus (BP) can be served as an effective electron transport layer (ETL) in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) for the first time. The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of the BP‐incorporated OPVs can be improved to 8.18% in average with the relative enhancement of 11%. The incorporation of BP flakes with the optimum thickness of ≈10 nm can form cascaded band structure in OPVs, which can facilitate electron transport and enhance the PCEs of the devices. This study opens an avenue in using solution exfoliated BP as a highly efficient ETL for organic optoelectronics.
The newly discovered Group-10 transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) like PtSe 2 have promising applications in high-performance microelectronic and optoelectronic devices due to their high carrier mobilities, widely tunable bandages and ultrastabilities. However, the optoelectronic performance of broadband PtSe 2 photodetectors integrated with silicon remains undiscovered. Here, we report the successful preparation of large-scale, uniform and vertically grown PtSe 2 films by simple selenization method for the design of a PtSe 2 /Si nanowire array heterostructure, which exhibited a very good photoresponsivity of 12.65 A/W, a high specific detectivity of 2.5 × 10 13 Jones at −5 V and fast rise/fall times of 10.1/19.5 μs at 10 kHz without degradation while being capable of responding to high frequencies of up to 120 kHz. Our work has demonstrated the compatibility of PtSe 2 with the existing silicon technology and ultrabroad band detection ranging from deep ultraviolet to optical telecommunication wavelengths, which can largely cover the limitations of silicon detectors. Further investigation of the device revealed pronounced photovoltaic behavior at 0 V, making it capable of operating as a self-powered photodetector. Overall, this representative PtSe 2 /Si nanowire array-based photodetector offers great potential for applications in next-generation optoelectronic and electronic devices.
The giant anisotropic Raman response of encapsulated ultrathin black phosphorus (BP) is reported by uniaxial strain. A modified bending technique is employed to apply precise uniaxial tensile strain along the zigzag or armchair direction of the ultrathin BP encapsulated by a layer of polymethyl methacrylate. The Raman shift rates of the A
1
g, B
2g, and A
2
g modes are significantly distinct for strain applied along different directions. For the strain applied along zigzag direction, the Raman shift rate of the B
2g mode can reach a remarkable value of ≈−11 cm−1/% strain. In addition, the Grüneisen parameter is as high as ≈2.5, which is the largest among all the reported common 2D materials. Density functional perturbation theory calculations are performed to understand the exceptional anisotropic strain response discovering that not only the bond lengths but also the bond angels are changed in the strained ultrathin BP, which lead to the giant anisotropic Raman response. Furthermore, an alternative method based entirely on the strained ultrathin BP and nonpolarized Raman spectroscopy is demonstrated to determine the crystallographic orientations of ultrathin BP. This work paves a way to study the strain‐induced anisotropic electrical conductance and magnetotransport properties of BP.
Work function strongly impacts the surficial charge distribution, especially for metal-support electrocatalysts when a built-in electric field (BEF) is constructed. Therefore, studying the correlation between work function and BEF is crucial for understanding the intrinsic reaction mechanism. Herein, we present a Pt@CoO x electrocatalyst with a large work function difference (ΔΦ) and strong BEF, which shows outstanding hydrogen evolution activity in a neutral medium with a 4.5-fold mass activity higher than 20 % Pt/C. Both experimental and theoretical results confirm the interfacial charge redistribution induced by the strong BEF, thus subtly optimizing hydrogen and hydroxide adsorption energy. This work not only provides fresh insights into the neutral hydrogen evolution mechanism but also proposes new design principles toward efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen production in a neutral medium.
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