Researchers at University College London have developed one-atom-thick ribbons composed of a phosphorus and arsenic alloy. This breakthrough material holds the potential to significantly enhance the performance of various devices including batteries, supercapacitors, and solar cells.
The research team discovered phosphorus nanoribbons in 2019. The “wonder material,” predicted to revolutionize devices ranging from batteries to biomedical sensors, has since been used to increase lithium-ion battery lifetimes and solar cell efficiencies.
However, phosphorus-only materials do not conduct electricity very well, hindering their usage for certain applications.
In the new study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the researchers created nanoribbons made of phosphorus and tiny amounts of arsenic, which they found were able to conduct electricity at temperatures above -140 C, while retaining the highly useful properties of the phosphorus-only ribbons.
Senior author Dr. Adam Clancy (UCL Chemistry) said: “Early experimental work has already shown the remarkable promise of phosphorus nanoribbons, created for the first time by our UCL team in 2019. In 2021, for instance, it was shown that adding the nanoribbons as a layer to perovskite solar cells allowed the cells to harness more energy from the Sun.
“Our latest work in alloying phosphorus nanoribbons with arsenic opens up further possibilities – in particular, improving energy storage of batteries and supercapacitors, and enhancing near-infrared detectors used in medicine.
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