Wafer-sized multifunctional polyimine-based two-dimensional conjugated polymers with high mechanical stiffness.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27849053.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13461 and PMC identifier 5116084.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
One of the key challenges in two-dimensional (2D) materials is to go beyond graphene, a prototype 2D polymer (2DP), and to synthesize its organic analogues with structural control at the atomic- or molecular-level. Here we show the successful preparation of porphyrin-containing monolayer and multilayer 2DPs through Schiff-base polycondensation reaction at an air-water and liquid-liquid interface, respectively. Both the monolayer and multilayer 2DPs have crystalline structures as indicated by selected area electron diffraction. The monolayer 2DP has a thickness of∼0.7 nm with a lateral size of 4-inch wafer, and it has a Young's modulus of 267±30 GPa. Notably, the monolayer 2DP functions as an active semiconducting layer in a thin film transistor, while the multilayer 2DP from cobalt-porphyrin monomer efficiently catalyses hydrogen generation from water. This work presents an advance in the synthesis of novel 2D materials for electronics and energy-related applications.