Defining the role of humidity in the ambient degradation of few-layer black phosphorus

Few-layer black phosphorus (BP) is an emerging material of interest for applications in electronics. However, lack of ambient stability is hampering its incorporation in practical devices as it demands for an inert operating environment. Here, we study the individual effects of key environmental factors, such as temperature, light and humidity on the deterioration of BP. It is shown that humidity on its own does not cause material degradation. In fact, few-layer BP is employed as a recoverable humidity sensor. This study eliminates humidity as an active parameter in BP degradation. Hence, by simply isolating BP from light, its lifetime can be prolonged even in the presence of O2. As such, this study opens the pathway for devising new strategies for the practical implementation of BP.

[1]  Jian Zhen Ou,et al.  Two‐Dimensional Molybdenum Trioxide and Dichalcogenides , 2013 .

[2]  Zongfu Yu,et al.  Extraordinary photoluminescence and strong temperature/angle-dependent Raman responses in few-layer phosphorene. , 2014, ACS nano.

[3]  Wei Ji,et al.  High-mobility transport anisotropy and linear dichroism in few-layer black phosphorus , 2014, Nature communications.

[4]  Transport properties of pristine few-layer black phosphorus by van der Waals passivation in an inert atmosphere. , 2014, Nature communications.

[5]  G. Vaitheeswaran,et al.  Effect of van der Waals interactions on the structural and elastic properties of black phosphorus , 2012, 1211.3512.

[6]  Sharath Sriram,et al.  Elemental analogues of graphene: silicene, germanene, stanene, and phosphorene. , 2015, Small.

[7]  Peide D. Ye,et al.  Anisotropic in-plane thermal conductivity observed in few-layer black phosphorus , 2015, Nature Communications.

[8]  Xiaolong Liu,et al.  In Situ Thermal Decomposition of Exfoliated Two-Dimensional Black Phosphorus. , 2015, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[9]  A. Geim,et al.  Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in graphene , 2005, Nature.

[10]  Xianfan Xu,et al.  Black phosphorus-monolayer MoS2 van der Waals heterojunction p-n diode. , 2014, ACS nano.

[11]  Aaron M. Jones,et al.  Highly anisotropic and robust excitons in monolayer black phosphorus. , 2014, Nature nanotechnology.

[12]  G. Steele,et al.  Isolation and characterization of few-layer black phosphorus , 2014, 1403.0499.

[13]  Yeonjin Yi,et al.  Observation of Tunable Band Gap and Anisotropic Dirac Semimetal State in Black Phosphorus. , 2015 .

[14]  Xianfan Xu,et al.  Phosphorene: an unexplored 2D semiconductor with a high hole mobility. , 2014, ACS nano.

[15]  Y. Sabri,et al.  Ordered Monolayer Gold Nano-urchin Structures and Their Size Induced Control for High Gas Sensing Performance , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[16]  George C Schatz,et al.  Covalent functionalization and passivation of exfoliated black phosphorus via aryl diazonium chemistry. , 2016, Nature chemistry.

[17]  D. Late,et al.  Humidity Sensing and Photodetection Behavior of Electrochemically Exfoliated Atomically Thin-Layered Black Phosphorus Nanosheets. , 2016, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[18]  Richard Martel,et al.  Photooxidation and quantum confinement effects in exfoliated black phosphorus. , 2015, Nature materials.

[19]  Jun Wang,et al.  Liquid exfoliation of solvent-stabilized few-layer black phosphorus for applications beyond electronics , 2015, Nature Communications.

[20]  Y. Sabri,et al.  Gold nanospikes based microsensor as a highly accurate mercury emission monitoring system , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[21]  Fatemeh Khalili-Araghi,et al.  Stable and Selective Humidity Sensing Using Stacked Black Phosphorus Flakes. , 2015, ACS nano.

[22]  Likai Li,et al.  Black phosphorus field-effect transistors. , 2014, Nature nanotechnology.

[23]  Mengwei Si,et al.  The Effect of Dielectric Capping on Few-Layer Phosphorene Transistors: Tuning the Schottky Barrier Heights , 2014, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[24]  F. Xia,et al.  Rediscovering black phosphorus as an anisotropic layered material for optoelectronics and electronics. , 2014, Nature communications.

[25]  Andres Castellanos-Gomez,et al.  Environmental instability of few-layer black phosphorus , 2014, 1410.2608.

[26]  Yingying Wu,et al.  High-quality sandwiched black phosphorus heterostructure and its quantum oscillations , 2014, Nature Communications.

[27]  Qing Hua Wang,et al.  Electronics and optoelectronics of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. , 2012, Nature nanotechnology.

[28]  Xianfan Xu,et al.  Phosphorene: an unexplored 2D semiconductor with a high hole mobility. , 2014, ACS nano.

[29]  Takashi Taniguchi,et al.  Air-stable transport in graphene-contacted, fully encapsulated ultrathin black phosphorus-based field-effect transistors. , 2014, ACS Nano.

[30]  Byeong-Gyu Park,et al.  Observation of tunable band gap and anisotropic Dirac semimetal state in black phosphorus , 2015, Science.

[31]  S. Shi,et al.  Ab initio studies on atomic and electronic structures of black phosphorus , 2010 .

[32]  Andre K. Geim,et al.  Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films , 2004, Science.

[33]  D. Late.  Liquid exfoliation of black phosphorus nanosheets and its application as humidity sensor , 2016 .