Synthesis of Black Phosphorus via a Facile Vapor Transfer Method

Abstract

Single-layer black phosphorus (BP), known as phosphorene, has recently attracted interest in research due to its exceptional properties, similar to those of other 2D materials. BP is the most stable allotrope of phosphorus with high density. BP can be obtained from other phosphorus allotropes by a number of ways. Due to white phosphorus being highly reactive at ≥ 30 °C, researchers tend to work with red phosphorus (RP). In this work, RP powder was heated under an argon atmosphere inside a muffle furnace along with tin and iodine at sequential temperatures for different times. All elements were placed inside a quartz ampoule evacuated with a vacuum pump. The ampoule was sealed after substituting it with argon gas. This method, known as the vapor transfer method, allows to synthesize BP with a ribbon-like structure. FE-SEM analyses revealed that the morphological structure of BP comprised clearly-stacked sheets. The structural analysis of the as-synthesized BP, conducted by XRD, TEM and Raman, showed the successful transformation of RP into BP.