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Monolayer MoS 2 has long been considered as the most promising candidate for wearable photovoltaic devices. However, its photovoltaic efficiency is restricted by its large band gap (2.0 eV). Though the band gap can be reduced by increasing the number of layers, the indirect band gap nature of the resulting multilayer MoS 2 is unfavorable. Herein, we report a theoretical discovery of the hitherto unknown symmetry-broken phase (denoted as 1T d ) of monolayer MoS 2 through a swarm structure search. The 1T d phase has a distorted octahedral coordinated pattern of Mo, and its direct band gap of 1.27 eV approaches the optimal value of 1.34 eV that gives the Shockley–Queisser limit for photovoltaic efficiency. Importantly, the direct band gap nature persists in thin films with multilayers owing to extremely weak vdW forces between adjacent 1T d layers. The theoretical photovoltaic efficiency at 30 nm thickness reaches ∼33.3%, which is the highest conversion efficiency among all the thin-film solar cell absorbers known thus far. Furthermore, several feasible strategies including appropriate electron injection and annealing methods were proposed to synthesize the 1T d phase. Once synthesized, the superior photovoltaic properties of the 1T d phase may lead to the development of an entirely new line of research for transition metal dichalcogenide solar cells.
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Thickness-dependent phase transition kinetics in lithium-intercalated MoS 2
Abstract The phase transitions of two-dimensional (2D) materials are key to the operation of many devices with applications including energy storage and low power electronics. Nanoscale confinement in the form of reduced thickness can modulate the phase transitions of 2D materials both in their thermodynamics and kinetics. Here, using in situ Raman spectroscopy we demonstrate that reducing the thickness of MoS 2 below five layers slows the kinetics of the phase transition from 2H- to 1T′-MoS 2 induced by the electrochemical intercalation of lithium. We observe that the growth rate of 1T′ domains is suppressed in thin MoS 2 supported by SiO 2 , and attribute this growth suppression to increased interfacial effects as the thickness is reduced below 5 nm. The suppressed kinetics can be reversed by placing MoS 2 on a 2D hexagonal boron nitride ( h BN) support, which readily facilitates the release of strain induced by the phase transition. Additionally, we show that the irreversible conversion of intercalated 1T′-MoS 2 into Li 2 S and Mo is also thickness-dependent and the stability of 1T′-MoS 2 is significantly increased below five layers, requiring a much higher applied electrochemical potential to break down 1T′-MoS 2 into Li 2 S and Mo nanoclusters.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1749742
- PAR ID:
- 10400844
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2D Materials
- Volume:
- 9
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2053-1583
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 025009
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/ac4e9b
