Single crystal, luminescent carbon nitride nanosheets formed by spontaneous dissolution
File(s)
Published version
OA Location
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
A primary method for the production of 2D nanosheets is liquid-phase delamination from their 3D layered bulk analogues. Most strategies currently achieve this objective by significant mechanical energy input or chemical modification but these processes are detrimental to the structure and properties of the resulting 2D nanomaterials. Bulk poly(triazine imide) (PTI)-based carbon nitrides are layered materials with a high degree of crystalline order. Here, we demonstrate that these semiconductors are spontaneously soluble in select polar aprotic solvents, that is, without any chemical or physical intervention. In contrast to more aggressive exfoliation strategies, this thermodynamically driven dissolution process perfectly maintains the crystallographic form of the starting material, yielding solutions of defect-free, hexagonal 2D nanosheets with a well-defined size distribution. This pristine nanosheet structure results in narrow, excitation-wavelength-independent photoluminescence emission spectra. Furthermore, by controlling the aggregation state of the nanosheets, we demonstrate that the emission wavelengths can be tuned from narrow UV to broad-band white. This has potential applicability to a range of optoelectronic devices.
Date Issued
2017-10-11
Date Acceptance
2017-07-01
Citation
Nano Letters, 2017, 17 (10), pp.5891-5896
ISSN
1530-6984
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
5891
End Page
5896
Journal / Book Title
Nano Letters
Volume
17
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
© 2017 American Chemical Society. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000413057500003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
696656
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry, Physical
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
Chemistry
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
Physics
Nanomaterial
exfoliation
poly(triazine imide)
photoactive
two-dimensional material
solution
VISIBLE-LIGHT
POLY(TRIAZINE IMIDE)
HYDROGEN EVOLUTION
QUANTUM DOTS
SOLAR-CELLS
FUEL-CELLS
GRAPHENE
EXFOLIATION
LAYER
PHOTOCATALYST
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-07-05