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In-situ observations of novel single-atom thick 2D tin membranes embedded in graphene

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Abstract

There is ongoing research in freestanding single-atom thick elemental metal patches, including those suspended in a two-dimensional (2D) material, due to their utility in providing new structural and energetic insight into novel metallic 2D systems. Graphene pores have shown promise as support systems for suspending such patches. This study explores the potential of Sn atoms to form freestanding stanene and/or Sn patches in graphene pores. Sn atoms were deposited on graphene, where they formed novel single-atom thick 2D planar clusters/patches (or membranes) ranging from 1 to 8 atoms within the graphene pores. Patches of three or more atoms adopted either a star-like or close-packed structural configuration. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted to look at the cluster configurations and energetics (without the graphene matrix) and were found to deviate from experimental observations for 2D patches larger than five atoms. This was attributed to interfacial interactions between the graphene pore edges and Sn atoms. The presented findings help advance the development of single-atom thick 2D elemental metal membranes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11874044, 51676154, and 51672181) and the Czech Republic from ERDF “Institute of Environmental Technology-Excellent Research” (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000853). M. H. R. thanks the Sino-German Research Institute for its support (project: GZ 1400). Huy Q. Ta. thanks the Alexander von Humboldt foundation for its support through an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship.

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  1. Xiaoqin Yang, Huy Q. Ta, and Wei Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. 28, Xianning West Road, Xian, 710049, China

    Xiaoqin Yang, Jinping Luo & Lijun Liu

  2. Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials Innovations, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, China

    Xiaoqin Yang, Wei Li, Yu Liu, Qitao Shi, Sami Ullah, Jin-Ho Choi & Mark H. Rummeli

  3. Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, P. O. Box 270116, D-01171, Dresden, Germany

    Huy Q. Ta, Rafael G. Mendes, Alicja Bachmatiuk & Mark H. Rummeli

  4. Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Curie-Sklodowskiej 34, Zabrze, 41-819, Poland

    Alicja Bachmatiuk & Mark H. Rummeli

  5. Polish Center for Technology Development (PORT), Ul. Stabłowicka 147, Wrocław, 54-066, Poland

    Alicja Bachmatiuk

  6. Institute of Environmental Technology, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17. Listopadu 15, Ostrava, 708 33, Czech Republic

    Mark H. Rummeli

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  1. Xiaoqin Yang
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Correspondence to Lijun Liu, Jin-Ho Choi or Mark H. Rummeli.

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Yang, X., Ta, H.Q., Li, W. et al. In-situ observations of novel single-atom thick 2D tin membranes embedded in graphene. Nano Res. 14, 747–753 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3108-y

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