Enhancing Multifunctionalities of Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers via Intercalation of Molecules and Ions

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that intercalating water molecules or small cations between TMDC monolayers and substrates significantly enhances their optical, catalytic, and thermal functionalities, offering a versatile strategy for device development.

Contribution

It reveals that intercalation of molecules or ions can substantially boost TMDC monolayer functionalities, with specific effects on doping and substrate interaction, advancing material engineering.

Findings

Intercalation enhances optical, catalytic, and thermal properties by up to orders of magnitude.

Adsorption on top of monolayers shows negligible effects.

Intercalated species modify monolayer doping and substrate interactions.

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers present a remarkable multifunctional material with potential to enable the development of a wide range of novel devices. However, the functionalities observed often fall short of the expectation, which hinders the device development. Here we demonstrate that the optical, catalytic, and thermal functionalities of TMDC monolayers can all be substantially enhanced by up to orders of magnitude with the intercalation of water molecules or small cations (H+ and Li+) between the monolayers and underlying substrates. In contrast, the same molecules or cations adsorbed on top of the monolayers show negligible effects. We also discover two major roles of the intercalated species in the enhancement: doping the monolayers and modifying the interaction of the monolayers with the substrate. The result points out a versatile and convenient strategy of using the intercalation of molecules or ions to enhance the functionalities of TMDC monolayers.