Using fullerene as a shield: the research group of Professor Yang Shangfeng of CAS has made important progress in the new application of fullerene

Recently, nature communications, a famous international academic journal, published on-line the research results of Professor Yang Shangfeng of University of science and technology of China on the new application of fullerenes The article is entitled "stabilizing black phosphors nanosheets via edge selective binding of critical C 60 vehicles" In this work, fullerene C60 was selectively covalently attached to the edge of the black phosphorus nano tablet, and it was used as a protective shield by using the high stability of fullerene, which significantly improved the stability of the black phosphorus nano tablet in water (NAT Commun 2018, 9, 4177) As a new two-dimensional material, the band gap can be adjusted with the number of layers and the mobility of carriers is high It has an important application prospect in energy conversion and storage, catalysis, biomedicine and other fields However, it is easy to be oxidized and degraded, and its poor stability in the air and water environment seriously restricts the application of black phosphorus So how to improve the stability of black phosphorus is an urgent problem to be solved Based on the high stability of fullerenes represented by C60 in water, oxygen and air environment, Professor Yang Shangfeng's research group developed the solid-phase mechanochemistry (high-energy ball milling) method to prepare a few layers of black phosphorus nano tablets (adv mater 2017, 29, On the basis of 1605776), a new type of black phosphorus-c60 hybrid material was successfully prepared by adding C60 in the process of ball milling In cooperation with Professor Ji Xingxing, Professor Du Pingwu, Professor Lu Yalin of University of science and technology of China, Professor Yan Wensheng and Professor Wei Shiqiang of National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, etc., a series of spectral and energy spectral characterization of the black phosphorus-c60 hybrid material was carried out It was proved that the C60 fraction was selectively covalently connected to the edge of the black phosphorus nano sheet Because the low-level black phosphorus nanoflakes are more easily oxidized and degraded from the edge, the edge of the low-level black phosphorus nanoflakes is connected with highly stable C60 molecules, and C60 plays a role of protecting shield, effectively inhibiting the oxidation and degradation of the low-level black phosphorus nanoflakes, so its stability in water is about 4.6 times higher than that of the low-level black phosphorus nanoflakes without grafting C60 In addition, due to the strong electron acceptor ability of C60, the photoinduced electron transfer from black phosphorus to C60 can take place after the formation of black phosphorus-c60 hybrid material, which significantly improves the photocurrent response and photocatalytic activity of a few layers of black phosphorus nanoparticles This result not only provides a new way to improve the stability of black phosphorus, but also has an important significance for the development of new applications of fullerene materials Zhu Xianjun, a Ph.D student graduated from the school of chemistry and materials science, University of science and technology of China, is the first author of the paper, and Professor Yang Shangfeng is the only corresponding author The research was supported by the Ministry of science and technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the collaborative innovation center of quantum information and quantum technology.