Experimental Realization of Atomic Monolayer Si9 C15

Enhanced electron transport and optical properties of experimentally synthesized monolayer Si9C15: a comprehensive DFT study for nanoelectronics and photocatalytic applications

Two-dimensional silicon-carbide (SixCy) materials stand out for their compatibility with current silicon-based technologies, offering unique advantages in nanoelectronics and photocatalysis. In this study, we employ density functional theory and nonequilibrium Green's function methods to investigate the electronic properties, electron transport characteristics, and optoelectronic qualities of experimentally synthesized monolayer Si9C15. Utilizing the modified deformation potential theory formula, we unveil Si9C15's significant directional anisotropy in electron mobility (706.42 cm2 V-1 s-1) compared to holes (432.84 cm2 V-1 s-1) in the a direction. The electrical transport calculations reveal that configurations with a 3 nm channel length demonstrate an ON state when biased, reaching a peak current of 150 nA. Moreover, this maximum current value escalates to 200 nA under tensile strain, marking an increase of approximately 100 times compared to the 5 nm channel, which remains in an OFF state. Si9C15 exhibits high light absorption coefficients (∼105 cm-1) and suitable band edge positions for water splitting at pH 0-7. Applying 1-5% tensile strain can tune the conduction band minimum and valence band maximum closer to the standard redox potentials, enhancing photocatalytic water splitting efficiency. Remarkably, under illumination at pH 0 and 7, Si9C15 can spontaneously catalyze water splitting, demonstrating its potential as a highly efficient photocatalyst. Our findings emphasize the importance of strain control and device length optimization for performance enhancement in nanoelectronics and renewable energy applications, positioning Si9C15 as a promising material for high-performance field-effect transistors and photocatalytic water splitting.

Van der Waals epitaxy of tunable moirés enabled by alloying

The unique physics in moiré superlattices of twisted or lattice-mismatched atomic layers holds great promise for future quantum technologies. However, twisted configurations are thermodynamically unfavourable, making accurate twist angle control during growth implausible. While rotationally aligned, lattice-mismatched moirés such as WSe2/WS2 can be synthesized, they lack the critical moiré period tunability, and their formation mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we report the thermodynamically driven van der Waals epitaxy of moirés with a tunable period from 10 to 45 nanometres, using lattice mismatch engineering in two WSSe layers with adjustable chalcogen ratios. Contrary to conventional epitaxy, where lattice-mismatch-induced stress hinders high-quality growth, we reveal the key role of bulk stress in moiré formation and its unique interplay with edge stress in shaping the moiré growth modes. Moreover, the superlattices display tunable interlayer excitons and moiré intralayer excitons. Our studies unveil the epitaxial science of moiré synthesis and lay the foundations for moiré-based technologies.

g-ZnO/Si9C15: a S-scheme heterojunction with high carrier mobility for photo-electro catalysis of water splitting

The g-ZnO/Si9C15 heterojunction is designed, and its stability, electronic properties and photo-electro catalytic properties, and the impact of biaxial strain on the electronic and photocatalytic properties are investigated. The g-ZnO/Si9C15 heterojunction has a staggered (type-II) band structure (band gap is 1.770 eV), following the S-scheme mechanism. A high electron mobility of 5.113 × 103 cm2 V-1 s-1 and hole mobility of 3.324 × 104 cm2 V-1 s-1 are obtained in the zigzag and armchair directions, respectively. Suitable oxidation and reduction potentials are obtained such that photocatalytic water decomposition can occur at pH = 0-14, and the corrected solar to hydrogen (STH) efficiency is up to 35.4%. The absorption of visible light is enhanced, and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) is 15.1%. The electro-catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is more likely to occur at the Si9C15 interface with a low over-voltage of 0.190 V. Under biaxial strain, due to the controllable band structure, the corrected STH efficiency and PCE increase to 42.7% and 16.7%, respectively. The heterojunction shows potential value in the field of high-efficiency solar devices and catalytic materials for water splitting.

Si3C Monolayer as an Efficient Metal-Free Catalyst for Nitrate Electrochemical Reduction: A Computational Study

Nitrate electroreduction reaction to ammonia (NO3ER) holds great promise for both nitrogen pollution removal and valuable ammonia synthesis, which are still dependent on transition-metal-based catalysts at present. However, metal-free catalysts with multiple advantages for such processes have been rarely reported. Herein, by means of density functional theory (DFT) computations, in which the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional is obtained by considering the possible van der Waals (vdW) interaction using the DFT+D3 method, we explored the potential of several two-dimensional (2D) silicon carbide monolayers as metal-free NO3ER catalysts. Our results revealed that the excellent synergistic effect between the three Si active sites within the Si3C monolayer enables the sufficient activation of NO3- and promotes its further hydrogenation into NO2*, NO*, and NH3, making the Si3C monolayer exhibit high NO3ER activity with a low limiting potential of -0.43 V. In particular, such an electrochemical process is highly dependent on the pH value of the electrolytes, in which acidic conditions are more favorable for NO3ER. Moreover, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations demonstrated the high stability of the Si3C monolayer. In addition, the Si3C monolayer shows a low formation energy, excellent electronic properties, a superior suppression effect on competing reactions, and high stability, offering significant advantages for its experimental synthesis and practical applications in electrocatalysis. Thus, a Si3C monolayer can perform as a promising NO3ER catalyst, which would open a new avenue to further develop novel metal-free catalysts for NO3ER.