Issue 28, 2024

Surface chemistry altering electronic behaviour of liquid metal-derived tin oxide nanosheets

Abstract

Possessing excellent electronic properties and high chemical stability, semiconducting n-type two-dimensional (2D) tin dioxide (SnO2) nanosheets have been featured in sensing and electrocatalysis applications recently. Derived from non-layered crystal structures, 2D SnO2 has abundant unsaturated dangling bonds existing at the surface, providing interfacial activity. How the surface chemistry alters the electronic properties of 2D SnO2 nanomaterials remains unexplored. In this study, we synthesised ultra-thin 2D SnO2 nanosheets using a liquid metal (LM) touch printing technique and investigated experimentally and theoretically how the interactions of organic solvents composed of alkyl and hydroxyl groups with the surface of LM-derived 2D SnO2 modulate the electronic properties. It was found that alkane solvents can physically absorb onto the SnO2 surface with no impact on the material conductivity. Alcohol-based solvents on the other hand interact with the SnO2 surface via chemical absorptions primarily, in which oxygen atoms of hydroxyl groups in the alcohols form bonds with the surface atoms of SnO2. The binding stability is determined by the length and configuration of the hydrocarbon chain in alcohols. As representative long-chain alcohols, 1-octanol and 1-pentanol attach onto the SnO2 surface strongly, lowering the binding energy of Sn4+ and reducing the electron transfer ability of SnO2 nanosheets. Consequently, the electronic properties, i.e. conductivity and electronic mobility of SnO2 nanosheet-based electronic devices are decreased significantly.

Graphical abstract: Surface chemistry altering electronic behaviour of liquid metal-derived tin oxide nanosheets

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Apr 2024
Accepted
26 Jun 2024
First published
27 Jun 2024

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 13551-13561

Surface chemistry altering electronic behaviour of liquid metal-derived tin oxide nanosheets

X. Wei, C. K. Nguyen, P. D. Taylor, V. Krishnamurthi, N. Syed, P. Y. Le, M. J. S. Spencer, T. Daeneke and L. Bao, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 13551 DOI: 10.1039/D4NR01841A

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