No Arabic abstract
There is a strong interest to attach nanoparticles non-covalently to one-dimensional systems like boron nitride nanotubes to form composites. The combination of those materials might be used for catalysis, in solar cells, or for water splitting. Additionally, the fundamental aspect of charge transfer between the components can be studied in such systems. We report on the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites based on semiconductor nanoparticles attached directly and non-covalently to boron nitride nanotubes. Boron nitride nanotubes were simply integrated into the colloidal synthesis of the corresponding nanoparticles. With PbSe, CdSe, and ZnO nanoparticles a wide range of semiconductor bandgaps from the near infrared to the ultra violet range was covered. A high surface coverage of the boron nitride nanotubes with these semiconducting nanoparticles was achieved, while it was found that a similar in-situ approach with metallic nanoparticles does not lead to proper attachment. In addition, possible models for the underlying attachment mechanisms of all investigated nanoparticles are presented. To emphasize the new possibilities that boron nitride nanotubes offer as a support material for semiconductor nanoparticles we investigated the fluorescence of BN-CdSe composites. In contrast to CdSe nanoparticles attached to carbon nanotubes, where the fluorescence is quenched, particles attached to boron nitride nanotubes remain fluorescent. With our versatile approaches we expand the library of BN-nanoparticle composites that present an interesting, electronically non-interacting complement to the widely applied carbon nanotube-nanoparticle composite materials.
We investigate the molecular sensing properties of carbon nanotube-boron nitride-carbon nanotube (CNT-BN-CNT) junctions. We demonstrate that the electrical conductance of such a junction changes in response to the binding of an analyte molecule to the region of BN. The change in conductance depends on the length of the BN spacer and the position of the analyte and therefore we propose a method of statistically analysing conductance data. We demonstrate the ability to discriminate between analytes, by computing the conductance changes due to three analytes (benzene, thiol-capped oligoyne and a pyridyl-capped oligoyne) binding to junctions with five different lengths of BN spacer.
2D ferroelectrics with robust polarization down to atomic thicknesses provide novel building blocks for functional heterostructures. Experimental reports, however, remain scarce because of the requirement of a layered polar crystal. Here, we demonstrate a rational design approach to engineering 2D ferroelectrics from a non-ferroelectric parent compound via employing van der Waals assembly. Parallel-stacked bilayer boron nitride is shown to exhibit out-of-plane electric polarization that reverses depending on the stacking order. The polarization switching is probed via the resistance of an adjacently-stacked graphene sheet. Furthermore, twisting the boron nitride sheets by a small-angle changes the dynamics of switching due to the formation of moire ferroelectricity with staggered polarization. The ferroelectricity persists to room temperature while keeping the high mobility of graphene, paving the way for potential ultrathin nonvolatile memory applications.
We investigate the effect of surface acoustic waves on the atomic-like optical emission from defect centers in hexagonal boron nitride layers deposited on the surface of a LiNbO$_3$ substrate. The dynamic strain field of the surface acoustic waves modulates the emission lines resulting in intensity variations as large as 50% and oscillations of the emission energy with an amplitude of almost 1 meV. From a systematic study of the dependence of the modulation on the acoustic wave power, we determine a hydrostatic deformation potential for defect centers in this two-dimensional material of about 40 meV/%. Furthermore, we show that the dynamic piezoelectric field of the acoustic wave could contribute to the stabilization of the optical properties of these centers. Our results show that surface acoustic waves are a powerful tool to modulate and control the electronic states of two-dimensional materials.
Few-layer flakes of hexagonal boron nitride were prepared by ultrasonication of bulk crystals and agglomerated to form thin films. The transmission and reflection spectra of the thin films were measured. The spectral dependences of the linear and circular polarization revealed a hidden anisotropy of the films over the whole sample area which could not be explained by the anisotropy of the chaotically-oriented individual particles. Statistical analysis of optical microscopy images showed a macroscopic particle density distribution with ordering corresponding to the optical axis observed in the polarization data.
High pressure Raman experiments on Boron Nitride multi-walled nanotubes show that the intensity of the vibrational mode at ~ 1367 cm-1 vanishes at ~ 12 GPa and it does not recover under decompression. In comparison, the high pressure Raman experiments on hexagonal Boron Nitride show a clear signature of a phase transition from hexagonal to wurtzite at ~ 13 GPa which is reversible on decompression. These results are contrasted with the pressure behavior of carbon nanotubes and graphite.