Regulating the reactivity of black phosphorus via protective chemistry.

ABSTRACT: Rationally regulating the reactivity of molecules or functional groups is common in organic chemistry, both in laboratory and industry synthesis. This concept can be applied to inorganic nanomaterials, particularly two-dimensional black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets. The high reactivity of few-layer (even monolayer) BP is expected to be "shut down" when not required and to be resumed upon application. Here, we demonstrate a protective chemistry-based methodology for regulating BP reactivity. The protective step initiates from binding Al3+ with lone pair electrons from P to decrease the electron density on the BP surface, and ends with an oxygen/water-resistant layer through the self-assembly of hydrophobic 1,2-benzenedithiol (BDT) on BP/Al3+ This protective step yields a stabilized BP with low reactivity. Deprotection of the obtained BP/Al3+/BDT is achieved by chelator treatment, which removes Al3+ and BDT from the BP surface. The deprotective process recovers the electron density of BP and thus restores the reactivity of BP.

SUBMITTER: Liu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7673725 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature