Kinetics Control of Mithrene Formation in a High-Pressure Inert Environment: A Robust Solvent-Free Route to...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Optoelectronics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Metal organic chalcogenolates (MOCs) are promising 2D materials for optoelectronics due to their stability.
• Mithrene (AgSePh) exhibits desirable blue emission and anisotropic excitonic properties.
• Existing solvent-assisted synthesis methods for mithrene films often introduce impurities and reduce film quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a robust, solvent-free synthesis strategy for high-quality mithrene thin films.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional solvent-assisted fabrication methods.
• To improve the crystallinity, excitonic absorption, and photoluminescence of mithrene films.

Main Methods:

• Solvent-free synthesis of mithrene thin films using controlled pressure and temperature in an inert atmosphere.
• Characterization using grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis absorption, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy.

Main Results:

• The solvent-free method yielded mithrene films with significantly improved crystallinity and enhanced excitonic absorption.
• Photoluminescence (PL) emission was substantially greater compared to solvent-processed films.
• A novel excitonic feature (Xα) was observed, potentially due to enhanced out-of-plane structural coherence.

Conclusions:

• A superior solvent-free route for fabricating high-quality MOC thin films has been established.
• The developed method optimizes reaction kinetics and material properties.
• This advancement facilitates the integration of mithrene into next-generation optoelectronics, semiconductors, and catalysts.