Solution-processable Ni3(HITP)2/MXene heterostructures for ppb-level gas detection

Solution-processable Ni3(HITP)2/MXene heterostructures for ppb-level gas detection

Xuanhao Wu, Mengmeng Niu, Xin Tian, Xiaoyan Peng, Pio John S. Buenconsej, Xu Wu, Yeliang Wang, Wei Ji, Yi Li, Jingsi Qiao, Jifang Tao, Mingming Zhang, Song Xiaof and Hongye Yuan

Developing sensitive metal–organic framework (MOF) systems to overcome the ubiquitous trade-off between porosity and conductivity remains a formidable yet sought-after endeavor. This pursuit is of great significance for the development of MOF-based chemiresistive sensors with enhanced sensitivity and selectivity. Herein, we present an innovative template assisted strategy that utilizes the two-dimensional properties and good conductivity of MXene nanosheets, as well as lattice matching between MXene (Nb2C) and selected Ni3(HITP)2, to achieve controllable self-assembly of Ni3(HITP)2 on MXene sheets. This results in Ni3(HITP)2/MXene (HITP: 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaaminotriphenylene) heterostructures with considerable conductivity, porosity, and solution processability. The powder and film electrical conductivity are 4.8 × 103 and 5.3 × 105 S m−1, respectively, and the BET specific surface area can reach 797.8 m2 g−1. It is worth noting that excellent solution processability helps to prepare large-area films (23 cm × 9 cm) with good uniformity. Gas sensors based on Ni3(HITP)2/MXene heterostructures exhibit high sensitivity (LOD ∼ 5 ppb) and selectivity towards ultratrace ethanol at room temperature, setting a new benchmark. Such sensing behavior stems from the strong coupling of Ni3(HITP)2/MXene heterostructures and their enhanced interaction with ethanol, evidenced by experimental results and theoretical calculations. Real-time respiratory sensing assessments underscore their practicality in healthcare monitoring. This straightforward approach simplifies the integration of MOF-related materials on miniaturized devices with outstanding performance.

Atomically engineering metal vacancies in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Atomically engineering metal vacancies in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Nature Synthesis (2024).

Xiaocang Han, Mengmeng Niu, Yan Luo, Runlai Li, Jiadong Dan, Yanhui Hong, Xu Wu, Alex V. Trukhanov, Wei Ji, Yeliang Wang, Jiahuan Zhou, Jingsi Qiao*, Jin Zhang* & Xiaoxu Zhao*

Abstract:

Scanning probe microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) are powerful tools to trigger atomic-scale motions, pattern atomic defects and lead to anomalous quantum phenomena in functional materials. However, these techniques have primarily manipulated surface atoms or atoms located at the beam exit plane, leaving buried atoms, which govern exotic quantum phenomena, largely unaffected. Here we propose an electron-beam-triggered chemical etching approach to engineer shielded metal atoms sandwiched between chalcogen layers in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC). Various metal vacancies (V_MX_n, n=0−6) have been fabricated via atomically focused electron beam in STEM. The parent TMDC surface was modified with surfactants, facilitating the ejection of sandwiched metal vacancies via charge transfer effect. In situ sequential STEM imaging corroborated that a combined chemical-induced knock-on effect and chalcogen vacancy-assisted metal diffusion process result in atom-by-atom vacancy formation. This approach is validated in 16 different TMDCs. The presence of metal vacancies strongly modified their magnetic and electronic properties, correlated with the unpaired chalcogen p and metal d electrons surrounding vacancies and adjacent distortions. These findings show a generic approach for engineering interior metal atoms with atomic precision, creating opportunities to exploit quantum phenomena at the atomic scale.

DOI:10.1038/s44160-024-00501-z

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Unveiling Electronic Behaviors in Heterochiral Charge-Density-Wave Twisted Stacking Materials with 1.25 nm Unit Dependence

Unveiling Electronic Behaviors in Heterochiral Charge-Density-Wave Twisted Stacking Materials with 1.25 nm Unit Dependence

ACS NANO 17, 2702 (2023)

Liwei Liu* Xuan Song Jiaqi Dai Han Yang Yaoyao Chen Xinyu Huang Zeping Huang Hongyan Ji Yu Zhang Xu Wu Jia-Tao Sun Quanzhen Zhang Jiadong Zhou Yuan Huang Jingsi Qiao* Wei Ji Hong-Jun Gao Yeliang Wang*

Layered charge-density-wave (CDW) materials have gained increasing interest due to their CDW stacking-dependent electronic properties for practical applications. Among the large family of CDW materials, those with star of David (SOD) patterns are very important due to the potentials for quantum spin liquid and related device applications. However, the spatial extension and the spin coupling information down to the nanoscale remain elusive. Here, we report the study of heterochiral CDW stackings in bilayer (BL) NbSe2 with high spatial resolution. We reveal that there exist well-defined heterochiral stackings, which have inhomogeneous electronic states among neighboring CDW units (star of David, SOD), significantly different from the homogeneous electronic states in the homochiral stackings. Intriguingly, the different electronic behaviors are spatially localized within each SOD with a unit size of 1.25 nm, and the gap sizes are determined by the different types of SOD stackings. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations match the experimental measurements well and reveal the SOD-stacking-dependent correlated electronic states and antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic couplings. Our findings give a deep understanding of the spatial distribution of interlayer stacking and the delicate modulation of the spintronic states, which is very helpful for CDW-based nanoelectronic devices.

DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c10841

Ultralow contact resistance in organic transistors via orbital hybridization

Ultralow contact resistance in organic transistors via orbital hybridization

Nature Communications 14, 324 (2023)

Junpeng Zeng, Daowei He, Jingsi Qiao, Yating Li, Li Sun, Weisheng Li, Jiacheng Xie, Si Gao, Lijia Pan, Peng Wang, Yong Xu, Yun Li, Hao Qiu, Yi Shi, Jian-Bin Xu, Wei Ji & Xinran Wang

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are of interest in unconventional form of electronics. However, high-performance OFETs are currently contact-limited, which represent a major challenge toward operation in the gigahertz regime. Here, we realize ultralow total contact resistance (Rc) down to 14.0 Ω ∙ cm in C10-DNTT OFETs by using transferred platinum (Pt) as contact. We observe evidence of Pt-catalyzed dehydrogenation of side alkyl chains which effectively reduces the metal-semiconductor van der Waals gap and promotes orbital hybridization. We report the ultrahigh performance OFETs, including hole mobility of 18 cm2 V−1 s−1, saturation current of 28.8 μA/μm, subthreshold swing of 60 mV/dec, and intrinsic cutoff frequency of 0.36 GHz. We further develop resist-free transfer and patterning strategies to fabricate large-area OFET arrays, showing 100% yield and excellent variability in the transistor metrics. As alkyl chains widely exist in conjugated molecules and polymers, our strategy can potentially enhance the performance of a broad range of organic optoelectronic devices.