GaN haeckelite single-layered nanostructures: monolayer and nanotubes

"Nowadays, III-V semiconductors are interesting candidate materials for the tailoring of two dimensional (2D) graphene-like structures. These new 2D materials have attracted profound interest opening the possibility to find semiconductor materials with unexplored properties. First-principles density functional theory calculations are performed in order to investigate the electronic properties of GaN planar and nanotube morphologies based on Haeckelite structures (containing octagonal and square membered rings). Optimized geometries, band-structures, phonon dispersion, binding energies, transmission electron microscopy images simulations, x-ray diffraction patterns, charge densities, and electronic band gaps are calculated. We demonstrated that GaN Haeckelite structures are stable exhibiting a semiconducting behavior with an indirect band gap. Furthermore, it was found that GaN Haeckelite nanotubes are semiconductor with a band gap nature (direct or indirect) that depends of the nanotube´s chirality and diameter. In addition, it was demonstrated that surface passivation and the interaction with hydrazine, water, ammonia, and carbon monoxide molecules can change the band-gap nature. Our results are compared with the corresponding GaN hexagonal honeycomb structures.

Novel hetero-layered materials with tunable direct band gaps by sandwiching different metal disulfides and diselenides

"Although bulk hexagonal phases of layered semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (STMD) such as MoS2, WS2, WSe2 and MoSe2 exhibit indirect band gaps, a mono-layer of STMD possesses a direct band gap which could be used in the construction of novel optoelectronic devices, catalysts, sensors and valleytronic components. Unfortunately, the direct band gap only occurs for mono-layered STMD. We have found, using first principles calculations, that by alternating individual layers of different STMD (MoS2, WS2, WSe2 and MoSe2) with particular stackings, it is possible to generate direct band gap bi-layers ranging from 0.79 eV to 1.157 eV. Interestingly, in this direct band gap, electrons and holes are physically separated and localized in different layers. We foresee that the alternation of different STMD would result in the fabrication of materials with unprecedented optical and physico-chemical properties that would need further experimental and theoretical investigations.

Cobalt double-ring and double-dot structures: Magnetic properties

"The magnetization reversal mechanism of nanostructures of cobalt double-rings (D-rings) and double-dots (D-dots) is investigated in the framework of micromagnetic simulations. The arrays contain two identical coupled rings (wide and narrow) or dots with outer diameter of 200 nm and thicknesses ranging from 2–20 nm. Hysteresis loops, dipole–dipole and exchange energies are systematically calculated for the cases of the structures touching and the structures with a 50-nm inter-magnet separation; moreover, magnetization states along the hysteresis curve are analyzed. The results of both dot and ring D-magnets are compared with the corresponding individual magnets. Our results reveal that all D-ring (in contact and separated) arrays containing narrow rings exhibit non-null remanent magnetization; furthermore, higher coercive fields are promoted when the magnet thickness is increased. It is observed that the magnetization reversal is driven mainly by a clockwise rotation of onion-states, followed by states of frustrated vortices. Our results could help improve the understanding of the magnetic interactions in nanomagnet arrays.

Synthesis, characterization and cyclic voltammetry studies of helical carbon nanostructures produced by thermal decomposition of ethanol on Cu-foils

Cu-foils have been used intensively to fabricate graphene and other carbon nanostructures. Several routes have been implemented to improve the synthesis of such carbonaceous nanomaterials. We investigated the growth of carbon materials on Cu-foils by mapping the reactor in a chemical vapor deposition method. Several Cu-foils were pretreated by sonication to modify their surface and were placed alongside the reactor and exposed to a flow of ethanol vapor. After carbon materials deposition, the Cu-foils were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry (CV). It was demonstrated that the type of synthesized carbon nanostructure depends strongly on the position where the Cu-foils were placed. XRD characterizations revealed the presence of graphite materials, Cu, and CuO crystal structures. SEM characterizations revealed the presence of helical, herringbone and straight multiwalled carbon nanotubes with internal bamboo-shape morphology and formation of Cu nanoparticles. Important electrochemical properties of Cu-foils rich in helical carbon nanostructures were observed, suggesting this material can be used for redox reactions (RR) promotion. In addition, the hydrophobic properties were evaluated by contact angle measurements

Identification of individual and few layers of WS2 using Raman Spectroscopy

"The Raman scattering of single-and few-layered WS2 is studied as a function of the number of S-W-S layers and the excitation wavelength in the visible range (488, 514 and 647 nm). For the three excitation wavelengths used in this study, the frequency of the A(1g)(C) phonon mode monotonically decreases with the number of layers. For single-layer WS2, the 514.5 nm laser excitation generates a second-order Raman resonance involving the longitudinal acoustic mode (LA(M)). This resonance results from a coupling between the electronic band structure and lattice vibrations. First-principles calculations were used to determine the electronic and phonon band structures of single-layer and bulk WS2. The reduced intensity of the 2LA mode was then computed, as a function of the laser wavelength, from the fourth-order Fermi golden rule. Our observations establish an unambiguous and nondestructive Raman fingerprint for identifying single-and few-layered WS2 films.

Observation of magnetic edge state in graphene nanoribbons

"The electronic structure and spin magnetism for few-layer-graphene nanoribbons synthesized by chemical vapor deposition have been investigated using near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and electron-spin resonance (ESR). For the pristine sample, a prepeak was observed below the pi* peak close to the Fermi level in NEXAFS, indicating the presence of additional electronic states close to the Fermi level. The intensity of this prepeak decreased with increasing annealing temperature and disappeared after annealing above 1500 degrees C. The ESR spectra, which proved the presence of localized spins, tracked the annealing-temperature-dependent behavior of the prepeak with fidelity. The NEXAFS and ESR results jointly confirm the existence of a magnetic edge state that originates from open nanographene edges. The disappearance of the edge state after annealing at higher temperatures is explained by the decrease in the population of open edges owing to loop formation of adjacent graphene edges.

Pure and doped boron nitride nanotubes

"More than ten years ago, it was suggested theoretically that boron nitride (BN) nanotubes could be produced. Soon after, various reports on their synthesis appeared and a new area of nanotube science was born. This review aims to cover the latest advances related to the synthesis of BN nanotubes. We show that these tubes can now be produced in larger amounts and, in particular, that the chemistry of BN tubes appears to be very important to the production of reinforced composites with insulating characteristics. From the theoretical standpoint, we also show that (BN)-C heteronanotubes could have important implications for nanoelectronics. We believe that BN nanotubes (pure and doped) could be used in the fabrication of novel devices in which pure carbon nanotubes do not perform very efficiently.

Synthesis Characterization of Nanostructured ZnCo2O4 with High Sensitivity to CO Gas

In this work, nanostructured ZnCo2O4 was synthesized via a microwave-assisted colloidal method, and its application as gas sensor for the detection of CO was studied. Typical diffraction peaks corresponding to the cubic ZnCo2O4 spinel structure were identified at calcination temperature of 500°C by X-ray powder diffraction. A high degree of porosity in the surface of the nanostructured powder of ZnCo2O4 was observed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, faceted nanoparticles with a pockmarked structure were clearly identified. The estimated average particle size was approximately 75 nm. The formation of ZnCo2O4 material was also confirmed by Raman characterization. Pellets fabricated with nanostructured powder of ZnCo2O4 were tested as sensors using CO gas at different concentrations and temperatures. A high sensitivity value of 305–300 ppm of CO was measured at 300°C, indicating that nanostructured ZnCo2O4 had a high performance in the detection of CO

Extraordinary room-temperature photoluminescence in WS2 monolayers

Individual monolayers of metal dichalcogenides are atomically thin two-dimensional crystals with attractive physical properties different from their bulk layered counterpart. Here we describe the direct synthesis of WS2 monolayers with triangular morphologies and strong room-temperature photoluminescence (PL). Bulk WS2 does not present PL due to its indirect band gap nature. The edges of these monolayers exhibit PL signals with extraordinary intensity, around 25 times stronger than the platelets center. The structure and composition of the platelet edges appear to be critical for the PL enhancement effect. Electron diffraction revealed that platelets present zigzag edges, while first-principles calculations indicate that sulfur-rich zigzag WS2 edges possess metallic edge states, which might tailor the optical response reported here. These novel 2D nanoscale light sources could find diverse applications including the fabrication of flexible/transparent/low-energy optoelectronic devices