2D Non‐van der Waals Nanoplatelets of Hematene and Magnetene: Nonlinear Optical Response and Optical Limiting Performance from UV to NIR

Abstract

Recently, the preparation of some hematene and magnetene ultrathin non van der Waals (non‐vdW) 2D nanoplatelets was reported starting from hematite and magnetite natural iron ores. The present work reports on the determination and evaluation of the nonlinear optical response and the optical limiting (OL) action of these 2D nanoplatelets dispersed in water under ns laser excitation. The obtained results show that both hematene and magnetene exhibit strong nonlinear absorption and refraction, comparable and even larger than those of other van der Waals (vdW) 2D counterpart materials. In addition, due to their strong nonlinear absorption, both hematene and magnetene show exceptional OL performance from the UV to visible, attaining very low values of optical limiting onset (OLon), comparable and even lower than that of vdW 2D nanomaterials, such as graphene, graphene oxide, other transition metal dichalcogenides like MoS2, WS2 and MoSe2, black phosphorous and antimonene. Moreover, hematene was found to exhibit more efficient OL action than magnetene for all the excitation wavelengths studied, attributed to more efficient ligand to metal charge transfer. The present findings open new possibilities for the potential use of these non‐vdW 2D materials in photonics and optoelectronics, e.g., as optical limiters and optical switchers.