Physicists at the University of Kansas have created an innovative substance from two different atomic sheets that interlock like Lego toy bricks. The researchers said the new material, made of a layer of graphene and a layer of tungsten disulfide, could be used in solar cells and flexible electronics.
Hsin-Ying Chiu, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and graduate student Matt Bellus created the new material using “layer-by-layer assembly” as a versatile bottom-up nano-fabrication technique.
Building upon their research, Jiaqi He, a visiting student from China, and Nardeep Kumar, a graduate student who now has moved to Intel Corp., investigated how electrons move between the two layers through ultrafast laser spectroscopy in KU’s Ultrafast Laser Lab, supervised by Hui Zhao, associate professor of physics and astronomy. Chiu explains:
To build artificial materials with synergistic functionality has been a long journey of discovery. A new class of materials, made of the layered materials, has attracted extensive attention ever since the rapid development of graphene technology. One of the most promising aspects of this research is the potential to devise next-generation materials via atomic layer-level control over its electronic structure.
According to the researchers, the approach is to design synergistic materials by combining two single-atom thick sheets, for example, acting as a photovoltaic cell as well as a light-emitting diode, converting energy between electricity and radiation. However, combining layers of atomically thin material is a thorny task that has flummoxed researchers for years, as Chiu mentions:
A big challenge of this approach is that, most materials don’t connect together because of their different atomic arrangements at the interface — the arrangement of the atoms cannot follow the two different sets of rules at the same time. This is like playing with Legos of different sizes made by different manufacturers. As a consequence, new materials can only be made from materials with very similar atomic arrangements, which often have similar properties, too. Even then, arrangement of atoms at the interface is irregular, which often results in poor qualities.
The use of layered materials, like the ones developed by the KU researchers, provide a solution for this problem. The new material features two layers where each atomic sheet is composed of atoms bound strongly with their neighbors.
Unlike the conventional materials formed by atoms that are strongly bound in all directions, the two atomic sheets are themselves only weakly linked to each other by the so-called van der Waals force, the same attractive phenomenon between molecules that allows geckos to stick to walls and ceilings. Bellus explains the implications:
There exist about 100 different types of layered crystals — graphite is a well-known example. Because of the weak interlayer connection, one can choose any two types of atomic sheets and put one on top of the other without any problem. It’s like playing Legos with a flat bottom. There is no restriction. This approach can potentially produce a large number of new materials with combined novel properties and transform the material science.hao are trying to apply this Lego approach to other materials, such as combining two substances that absorb light of different colors, to create materials that react to diverse parts of the solar spectrum.
This new material is showing excellent potential in preliminary tests for improving the use and efficiency of solar cell technology and flexible electronic components.
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