Die Art der zwischen den 2D-Materialien und den festen Substraten eingeschlossenen Wasserschichten ist umstritten, sowie auch ihr Einfluss auf die Eigenschaften der 2D-Materialien. In-situ-Rasterkraftmikroskopie (SFM) wurde eingesetzt, um den Benetzungsprozess von Wasser an der Grenzfläche zwischen trockenem graphen- und molybdändisulfid (MoS2)- und Glimmer zu visualisieren. In-situ Raman- und Photolumineszenzmessungen (PL) wurden durchgeführt, um zu untersuchen, wie sich die Ladungsdotierung von Graphen und die Dehnung von Graphen und MoS2 bei der Benetzung verändern. SFM-Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Wassermoleküle, die die trockene Grenzfläche benetzen, bei hoher relativer Luftfeuchtigkeit eine homogene monomolekulare Schicht ausbilden. Aus Raman-Messungen kann man schließen, dass die Wasserschicht vorhandenen Ladungstransfer an der trockenen Grenzfläche blockiert, während eine Schicht aus Ethanolmolekülen dafür nicht ausreicht. Der Austausch von Ethanol gegen Wasser und umgekehrt ermöglicht eine reversible Umschaltung des Ladungstransfers an der Grenzfläche. Dehnungsänderungen von 2D-Materialien auf Glimmer mit eingeschlossenen Flüssigkeitsschichten wird in dieser Arbeit durch Dehnung eines Glimmersubstrats mit darauf exfoliertem 2D-Material untersucht. Die dadurch induzierte Dehnung in Graphen und MoS2 wird durch die Analyse der Veränderungen in den Raman- bzw. PL-Spektren ermittelt. Dabei kann eine Dehnungsrelaxation in Graphen beobachtet werden, die sich von einer „Stick-Slip-Bewegung“ bei trockener Grenzfläche zu viskosem Relaxationsverhalten verändert, wenn Wasser in die Grenzfläche interkaliert. Im Gegensatz dazu findet man in MoS2 unabhängig von der Hydratation keine viskose Relaxation. / The nature of the water layers confined between 2D materials and solid substrates is disputed, also their influences on properties of 2D materials are in debate. I employ In-situ scanning force microscopy (SFM) to visualize wetting of water at the dry graphene-/molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) - mica interface. In-situ Raman and photoluminescence (PL) measurements probe charge-doping and strain change of graphene and MoS2 upon wetting. SFM results show that water molecules wetting the dry interface form a monomolecular layer at high relative humidity (RH). Raman results imply that the water layer blocks charge transfer from mica to graphene, while an ethanol monolayer allows for it. Strain changes of both 2D materials on mica with confined liquid layers are investigated by stretching a mica substrate with the 2D material exfoliated on it. The strain induced in graphene and MoS2 is inferred by analyzing changes in Raman and PL spectra, respectively. Strain relaxation in graphene changes from stick-slip for dry interface to viscous when intercalated by water. In contrast, there is no viscous relaxation in MoS2 regardless of hydration.

The technology of semiconductor-based photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen using solar energy has been considered as one of the most important approaches to solve the world energy crisis. Therefore, the development of the effective semiconductor photocatalysts has undergone considerable research. However, the traditional photocatalysts suffer from the negative effects from rapid charge recombination, which reduces the excited charges by emitting light or generating phonons. Efficient charge separation and fast charge transport, avoiding any bulk/surface recombination, are fundamentally important for photocatalytic hydrogen generation through water splitting. Here, we have introduced assembled layered materials as photocatalyst systems with their unique physicochemical properties to realize the effective charge separation and high photocatalytic activity. Using graphene as a two-dimensional supporting matrix, we have succeeded in selective anchoring of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles as separate catalytically active sites on the graphene surface. The ability of graphene to capture, transfer and store electrons and its potential to serve as a conductive support are demonstrated. The TiO₂ semiconductor/metals nanocrystals-graphene ensemble makes it possible to carry out selective catalytic processes at the separate sites and provides the potentials for applications in water splitting reactions. After demonstrating the positive role of graphene in such photocatalytic system, we then fabricate a simple but highly cooperative ensemble with CdS and MoS₂ nanocrystals dispersed on graphene sheets. It is demonstrated that CdS nanocrystals can also capture visible light energy and facilitate excited electron transfer to MoS₂ (as metal substituent) for catalytic hydrogen production via the 2-D graphene which plays a key role as an efficient electron mediator. Hexagonal multilayer MoS₂ with a layered structure in this system serves to provide active sites for hydrogen evolution by its exposed Mo edges. Hence, multilayer MoS₂ is an ideal cocatalyst of semiconductors for hydrogen generation. This crystalline-layered structure also shows semiconducting properties, however, its characteristic indirect band gap displays a poor light capture and emission ability with excited electrons and holes with different momentum. In contrast, single layer MoS₂ shows a direct band gap behavior. Our studies have clearly shown that single layer MoS₂ prepared with lithium intercalation indeed displays encouraging results in hydrogen evolution due to the direct band gap and quantum confinement effects. In addition, the exfoliated single layer MoS₂ exhibits extraordinary enhanced activity and stability in combination with the Eosin Y sensitized system when compared to those of multilayer MoS₂ and bulk MoS₂ counterparts, which is attributed to the improvement of the density of surface active sites with stronger adsorption for the Eosin Y molecules on the single layer MoS₂. In addition, this multifunctional catalyst on graphene sheet can also create adsorption sites on a defective basal surface of single layer MoS₂ through adsorption of Eosin Y where electron transfer from photoexcited Eosin Y molecule to graphene via the 2-D MoS₂ mainly takes place. Thus, the photo-generated electrons are then effectively transported to the exposed active sites of MoS₂ for the proton reduction to hydrogen molecule. It is believed the above novel assembled molecular layered systems may be applicable for a wide range of catalytic,photocatalytic and electrocatalytic reactions.

The doping of rhenium into molybdenum disulfide was achieved by Aerosol Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (AACVD) from single source precursors. Rhenium can be studied as a model for immobilization of radioactive technetium-99 (99Tc) in MoS2. The metals Mo(IV), Re(IV), and Tc(IV) have similar ionic radii 0.65, 0.63 and 0.65 Å respectively, and their Shannon-Prewitt crystal radii 0.79, 0.77 and 0.79 Å Hence demonstrating the potential storage of nuclear waste in geologic like formations in of groundwater may be possible. The interaction between the nuclear waste forms and groundwater, which could lead to release and transport low concentrations or vapour of radionuclides to the near field, as a result, decomposition of engineered barriers. The molecular precursors [Mo(S2CNEt2)4], [Re3(μ-SiPr)3(SiPr)6], [Re(S2CC6H5)(S3CC6H5)2], and [Re2(μ-S)2(S2CNEt2)4] have been used to deposit Re-doped MoS2 thin films. Mo-doped ReS2 alloyed, polycrystalline thin films were synthesised using [Re(S2CC6H5)(S3CC6H5)2], [Mo(S2CNEt2)4] via AACVD, adding with a low concentration of Mo source for the first time . We reported as well a new way for production of ultrathin ReS2 nanosheets by coupling bottom up processing AACVD with top-down LPE. This is important in synthetic pathways for the production of rare transition dichalcogenide, also, our processing methodology is potentially scalable and thus could be a way to commercial exploitation. Characterisation of produced materials performed by pXRD, SEM, TEM, STEM, EDX, ICP and Raman spectroscopy.

L'objectif de ce travail est d'évaluer l'effet de la nature du support et l'effet de promotion sur les propriétés catalytiques des catalyseurs d'HDS à base de Mo. Pour obtenir les systèmes catalytiques adéquats, nous avons appliqué la préparation par " voie acac ", qui consiste à faire réagir le promoteur sous forme de complexe acétylacétonate (de Co, Ni ou Fe) sur le sulfure de molybdène supporté (sur γ-Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2 ou ZrO2). Les différents solides obtenus ont été caractérisés par MET, IR(CO) et SPX notamment pour tenter de quantifier les phases actives, puis ils ont été testés dans les réactions d'HDS du thiophène et du 4,6-DMDBT. L'activité catalytique a pu être corrélée aux résultats de caractérisation par une nouvelle approche qui consiste à calculer l'activité apparente par site NiMoS ou CoMoS. Cette approche montre que la qualité des sites actifs CoMoS et NiMoS est la meilleure sur SiO2 et comparable sur les supports γ-Al2O3, TiO2 et ZrO2. Par la même méthode nous avons préparé de nouveaux catalyseurs de type CoNiMoS supportés, en ajoutant les promoteurs Co et Ni soit simultanément soit successivement au MoS2. Cette étude permet un fort apport expérimental aux études théoriques qui avancent l'hypothèse de différentes affinités du Co et du Ni pour les deux type de bords S-edge et Mo-edge sur γ-Al2O3 et TiO2.

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Detta projekts mål har varit att undersöka tre olika 2D-materials triboelektriska egenskaper och därmed placera dem i en triboelektrisk serie. Detta utfördes genom att använda en triboelektrisk nanogenerator (TENG) och mäta den resulterande spänningen. Tio stycken motmaterial applicerades mot varje 2D-material på nanogeneratorn. Utifrån resultatet var det möjligt uppmärka typiska vågformer för en TENG, alltså kunde resultatet från mätningen antas vara från den triboelektriska effekten. 2D-materialen placerades tillsammans med dess motmaterial i en triboelektrisk serie och sorterades sedan för att bestämma dess elektronaffinitet. För de tre 2D-materialen hade de gemensamt att ETFE och FEP tillhör den positiva sidan av den triboelektriska serien relativt de 2D-materialen. Resten, alltså: cellofan, kapton, LDPE, nylon, PEEK, PEI, polypropylene och PTFE, placerades negativt i deras respektives 2D-materials serie. Dock blev resultatet ej som förväntat, då ordningen på motmaterialen i serien kunde antas vara samma för alla 2D-material, men detta var inte vad som hittades. Anledningen till detta kan möjligtvis vara ytladdningar som kan ha överförts till materialen medans de hanterades, eller på grund av ytstrukturen av 2D-materialen. Därför föreslås att detta arbete kan förbättras genom mer varsam hantering och spridning av materialen över dess plattform.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) aroused significant interest in the last years as semiconductor materials for application in the field of electronics, due to their tunable bandgap, good carrier mobility, and strong light absorption. Among TMDCs, two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (2D-MoS2) has been the most investigated for electronic and optoelectronic applications, like transistors and photodetectors. 2D-MoS2 can particularly benefit from the excellent light matter interaction properties in the UV-VIS spectrum combined with good charge carrier transport properties. The literature reports photodetectors based on 2D-MoS2 fabricated with different techniques, including exfoliation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and wet chemical synthesis. However, it is still challenging to scale the proposed devices to the industrial level, due to the lack of a versatile fabrication process that ensures both reproducibility and scalability. A possible solution to this could rise from wet chemical synthesis. In the first part of this work, I discuss the development and optimization of a fabrication method for MoS2 thin films based on a sol-gel process which allows for scalable productions. This route allowed the fabrication of large area (~cm2) MoS2 thin films of 200 nm thickness on technological relevant substrates (i.e., glass, gold, silicon). The films displayed good uniformity, although the crystallinity was affected by residual impurities. The films produced with this technique were employed for the fabrication of photodetectors, displaying responsivity of few mA/W in the NUV-VIS-NIR spectrum. However, the performance of the device was affected by a still limited quality of the MoS2 films obtained with the current method that require further optimization. Further studies will overcome the current limitations and solutions to be investigated in future works are proposed. The second part of this work focuses on expanding the detection capability of 2D-MoS2 (currently limited to the UV-VIS-NIR spectrum), by exploring for the first time X-rays sensing, taking advantage of the X-ray cross section of MoS2 associated with the high atomic number Z of Mo. A detector based on an exfoliated MoS2 monolayer (1L-MoS2) was fabricated and characterized for the purpose. The detector showed direct detection of ~10^2 keV X-rays down to dose rates of 0.08 mGy/s, with X-ray sensitivity is in the range 10^8-10^9 µC ⋅Gy-1·cm-3, outperforming most of the reported organic and inorganic materials. A strategy to improve the device response was also studied by adding a scintillator film, which resulted in a three-fold increase of the signal. These results suggest to consider 2D-MoS2 for in-vivo dosimetry applications.

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No description available.

Defects in materials significantly influence their properties and enhance functionality. Hybrid functionals like HSE06, though effective for describing defects, face challenges in geometry optimization for large supercells. The r2SCAN+rVV10+U+Ud method provides a computationally efficient alternative. By selecting appropriate U and Ud values for the d orbitals of host and defect atoms, this method accurately describes defects in materials. Our study on small polaron defects in layered transition-metal oxides demonstrates this. Using literature values for U and Ud, we investigated birnessite (KnMnO2, n = 0.03) and KnNiO2, n = 0.03. With one K atom intercalated in a supercell, both materials show a localized eg polaronic state on the transition metal ion reduced by the K atom, when the geometry is calculated using published U values. The expected Jahn-Teller distortion is not observed when U=Ud=0. In layered cobalt oxide with additional potassium ions (KnCoO2, n = 1.03), a single extra K atom in the supercell leads to four localized electrons in the band gap, using standard U values, and even for U=Ud=0. Monolayer MoS2 exhibits intriguing properties and potential technological applications when subjected to strain. A recent experimental study reported that the bandgap of monolayer MoS2 on a mildly curved graphite surface decreases by 400 meV/% strain under biaxial strain with a Poisson’s ratio of 0.44. We conducted density functional theory (DFT) calculations on a free-standing MoS2 monolayer using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) PBE, the hybrid functional HSE06, and many-body perturbation theory with the GW approximation using PBE wavefunctions (G0W0@PBE). Our findings indicate that under biaxial strain with the experimental Poisson’s ratio, the bandgap decreases at rates of 63 meV/% strain (PBE), 73 meV/% strain (HSE06), and 43 meV/% strain (G0W0@PBE), which are significantly lower than the experimental rate. Additionally, PBE predicts a reduction rate of 90 meV/% strain for a Poisson’s ratio of 0.25. Spin-orbit correction (SOC) has minimal impact on the bandgap or its strain dependence. We also observed a semiconductor-to-metal transition at 10% tensile biaxial strain and a shift from a direct to an indirect bandgap, aligning with previous theoretical studies. / Physics