arXiv subjects

Qingqing Ji

Publications and source records attributed to Qingqing Ji.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An encoded asymmetric ligand for metal-selective topological assembly of two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks

Two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (2D MOFs), with diverse topological architectures, provide a powerful platform for exploring unconventional electronic and lattice-dynamical responses. Yet their structural diversity remains fundamentally constrained by the fixed geometry of high-symmetry ligands. Here, we introduce an encoded asymmetric ligand, benzo[b]triphenylene-2,3,6,7,11,12-hexaol (BTH), for metal-selective topological assembly. By integrating multi-site coordination fields with sterically differentiated environments, BTH exhibits distinct topological programmability: different divalent metal ions direct divergent framework architectures. Specifically, coordination of BTH with divalent Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions assembles Cu-BTH-MOF with a dual-mode hexagonal pore topology and Zn-BTH-MOF with uniform hexagonal channels, respectively, as supported by PXRD Pawley refinement, structural simulations, and pore-size distribution analysis. Furthermore, this topological divergence is accompanied by a significant divergence in charge-transport properties, with Cu-BTH-MOF reaching an electrical conductivity of 1.186 x 10-3 S cm-1, more than six orders of magnitude higher than that of Zn-BTH-MOF (3.38 x 10-10 S cm-1). This work establishes ligand desymmetrization as a programmable strategy for metal-selective topological diversification in 2D MOFs.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Synergistic Photon Management and Strain-Induced Band Gap Engineering of Two-Dimensional MoS2 Using Semimetal Composite Nanostructures

2D MoS2 attracts increasing attention for its application in flexible electronics and photonic devices. For 2D material optoelectronic devices, light absorption of the molecularly thin 2D absorber would be one of the key limiting factors in device efficiency, and conventional photon management techniques are not necessarily compatible with them. In this paper, we show two semimetal composite nanostructures for synergistic photon management and strain-induced band gap engineering of 2D MoS2: (1) pseudo-periodic Sn nanodots, (2) conductive SnOx (x<1) core-shell nanoneedle structures. Without sophisticated nanolithography, both nanostructures are self-assembled from physical vapor deposition. 2D MoS2 achieves up to >15x enhancement in absorption at λ=650-950 nm under Sn nanodots, and 20-30x at λ=700-900 nm under SnOx (x<1) nanoneedles, both spanning from visible to near infrared regime. Enhanced absorption in MoS2 results from strong near field enhancement and reduced MoS2 band gap due to the tensile strain induced by the Sn nanostructures, as confirmed by Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Especially, we demonstrate that up to 3.5% biaxial tensile strain is introduced to 2D MoS2 using conductive nanoneedle-structured SnOx (x<1), which reduces the band gap by ~0.35 eV to further enhance light absorption at longer wavelengths. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a synergistic triple-functional photon management, stressor, and conductive electrode layer on 2D MoS2. Such synergistic photon management and band gap engineering approach for extended spectral response can be further applied to other 2D materials for future 2D photonic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Revealing the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi Relation in Halide-Activated Fast MoS2 Growth Towards Millimeter-Sized 2D Crystals

Achieving large-size two-dimensional (2D) crystals is key to fully exploiting their remarkable functionalities and application potentials. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of 2D semiconductors such as monolayer MoS2 has been reported to be activated by halide salts, yet clear identification of the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here we provide unambiguous experimental evidence showing that the MoS2 growth dynamics are halogen-dependent through the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relation, based on which we build a growth model by considering MoS2 edge passivation by halogens, and theoretically reproduces the trend of our experimental observations. These mechanistic understandings enable us to further optimize the fast growth of MoS2 and reach record-large domain sizes that should facilitate practical applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Designing Artificial Two-Dimensional Landscapes via Room-Temperature Atomic-Layer Substitution

Manipulating materials with atomic-scale precision is essential for the development of next-generation material design toolbox. Tremendous efforts have been made to advance the compositional, structural, and spatial accuracy of material deposition and patterning. The family of 2D materials provides an ideal platform to realize atomic-level material architectures. The wide and rich physics of these materials have led to fabrication of heterostructures, superlattices, and twisted structures with breakthrough discoveries and applications. Here, we report a novel atomic-scale material design tool that selectively breaks and forms chemical bonds of 2D materials at room temperature, called atomic-layer substitution (ALS), through which we can substitute the top layer chalcogen atoms within the 3-atom-thick transition-metal dichalcogenides using arbitrary patterns. Flipping the layer via transfer allows us to perform the same procedure on the other side, yielding programmable in-plane multi-heterostructures with different out-of-plane crystal symmetry and electric polarization. First-principle calculations elucidate how the ALS process is overall exothermic in energy and only has a small reaction barrier, facilitating the reaction to occur at room temperature. Optical characterizations confirm the fidelity of this design approach, while TEM shows the direct evidence of Janus structure and suggests the atomic transition at the interface of designed heterostructure. Finally, transport and Kelvin probe measurements on MoXY (X,Y=S,Se; X and Y corresponding to the bottom and top layers) lateral multi-heterostructures reveal the surface potential and dipole orientation of each region, and the barrier height between them. Our approach for designing artificial 2D landscape down to a single layer of atoms can lead to unique electronic, photonic and mechanical properties previously not found in nature.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Anomalous Hall effect and magnetic orderings in nanothick V$_5$S$_8$

The rise of graphene marks the advent of two-dimensional atomic crystals, which have exhibited a cornucopia of intriguing properties, such as the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects, valley Hall effect, charge density waves and superconductivity, to name a few. Yet, magnetism, a property of extreme importance in both science and technology, remains elusive. There is a paramount need for magnetic two-dimensional crystals. With the availability of many magnetic materials consisting of van der Waals coupled two-dimensional layers, it thus boils down to the question of how the magnetic order will evolve with reducing thickness. Here we investigate the effect of thickness on the magnetic ordering in nanothick V$_5$S$_8$. We uncover an anomalous Hall effect, by which the magnetic ordering in V$_5$S$_8$ down to 3.2 nm is probed. With decreasing thickness, a breakdown of antiferromagnetism is evident, followed by a spin-glass-like state. For thinnest samples, a weak ferromagnetic ordering emerges. The results not only show an interesting effect of reducing thickness on the magnetic ordering in a potential candidate for magnetic two-dimensional crystals, but demonstrate the anomalous Hall effect as a useful characterization tool for magnetic orderings in two-dimensional systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Metallic vanadium disulfide nanosheets as a platform material for multifunctional electrode applications

Nano-thick metallic transition metal dichalcogenides such as VS$_{2}$ are essential building blocks for constructing next-generation electronic and energy-storage applications, as well as for exploring unique physical issues associated with the dimensionality effect. However, such 2D layered materials have yet to be achieved through either mechanical exfoliation or bottom-up synthesis. Herein, we report a facile chemical vapor deposition route for direct production of crystalline VS$_{2}$ nanosheets with sub-10 nm thicknesses and domain sizes of tens of micrometers. The obtained nanosheets feature spontaneous superlattice periodicities and excellent electrical conductivities (~3$\times$10$^{3}$ S cm$^{-1}$), which has enabled a variety of applications such as contact electrodes for monolayer MoS$_{2}$ with contact resistances of ~1/4 to that of Ni/Au metals, and as supercapacitor electrodes in aqueous electrolytes showing specific capacitances as high as 8.6$\times$10$^{2}$ F g$^{-1}$. This work provides fresh insights into the delicate structure-property relationship and the broad application prospects of such metallic 2D materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Etching-free transfer of wafer-scale MoS2 films

How to transfer MoS2 films from growth substrates onto target substrates is a critical issue for its practical applications. However, it remains a great challenge to avoid the sample degradation and substrate destruction, since current transfer method inevitably employs a wet chemical etching process. Herein, we develop an etching-free transfer method for transferring wafer-scale MoS2 films onto arbitrary substrates by using ultrasonication. Briefly, the collapse of ultrasonication-generated microbubbles at the interface between polymer-coated MoS2 film and substrates induce sufficient force to delaminate the MoS2 films. Using this method the MoS2 films can be transferred from all the substrates (silica, mica, strontium titanate, sapphire) and remains the original sample morphology and quality. This method guarantees a simple transfer process, allows the reuse of growth substrates, without the presence of any hazardous etchants. The etching-free transfer method may promote the broad applications of MoS2 in electronics, optoelectronics and catalysis.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Ultrafast Terahertz Probe of Transient Evolution of Charged and Neutral Phase of Photoexcited Electron-hole Gas in Monolayer Semiconductor

We investigate the dynamical formation of excitons from photoexcited electron-hole plasma and its subsequent decay dynamics in monolayer MoS2 grown by chemical vapor deposition using ultrafast pump and terahertz probe spectroscopy. Different photoexcited electron-hole states are resolved based on their distinct responses to THz photon and decay lifetime. The observed transient THz transmission can be fit with two decay components: a fast component with decay lifetime of 20 ps, which is attributed to exciton life time including the exciton formation and subsequent intraexciton relaxation; a slow component with extremely long decay lifetime of several ns due to either localized exciton state or a long live dark exciton state which is uncovered for the first time. The relaxation dynamics is further verified by temperature and pump fluence dependent studies of the decay time constants.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Directly grown monolayer MoS2 on Au foils as efficient hydrogen evolution catalysts

Synthesis of monolayer MoS2 is essential for fulfilling the potential of MoS2 in catalysis, optoelectronics and valleytronics, etc. Herein, we report for the first time the scalable growth of high quality, domain size tunable (edge length from ~ 200 nm to 50 μm), strictly monolayer MoS2 on commercially available Au foils, via a low pressure chemical vapor deposition method. The nanosized triangular MoS2 flakes on Au foils was proved to be an excellent electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), featured by a rather low Tafel slope (61 mV/decade) and a supreme exchange current density (38.1 μA/cm2). The abundant active edge sites and the excellent electron coupling between MoS2 and Au foils account for the extraordinary HER activity. Our work presents a sound proof that strictly monolayer MoS2 assembled on a well selected electrode can manifest comparable or even superior HER property than that of nanoparticles or few-layer MoS2 electrocatalyst.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗