It takes two: advances in employing the interactions between black phosphorous and metals in various applications

Abstract

As a post-graphene two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial with unique properties, the potential of black phosphorus (BP) has been extended to various applications. However, pristine BP nanosheets are still facing huge challenges when applied in real devices, especially the concerns about ambient instability. It is necessary to treat BP with further modification in order to overcome the limitations. On the other hand, these 2D materials inherently take the structural advantage to become building blocks of composites. Consequently, plenty of BP-based composites have been designed. Amongst, combining BP with metal-based materials is a rather effective and efficient functionalization strategy. Due to the strong affinity between BP and metal ions/adatoms, there are intense interactions and synergistic effects within the BP–metal-based nanocomposites (BP–Ms). With careful design and control, the BP–Ms could present much better performances in applications that transcend both 2D BP and metal constituents. This review is aimed to give a general summary of the advancements of BP–Ms in different applications, with discussions about the challenges and prospects of this novel composite material.