Anisotropic and High-Mobility C<sub>3</sub>S Monolayer as a Photocatalyst for Water Splitting
Meng Tang, Bo Wang, Huan Lou, Fei Li, Aitor Bergara, Guochun Yang
Abstract
Taking into account the high conductivity and stability of carbon materials, such as graphene, and the strong polar covalent bonding character of main-group compounds, we explore potential 2D materials in the C–S binary system through first-principles structure search calculations. Herein, a hitherto unknown semiconducting C3S monolayer is identified, consisting of well-known n-biphenyl and S atom linked benzenes, exhibiting an obvious direction-dependent atomic arrangement. Thus, it exhibits anisotropic mechanical properties and carrier mobility. Its electron mobility reaches 2.14 × 104 cm2 V–1 s–1 in the b direction, along which n-biphenyl units are arranged, and is much higher than that in the well-used MoS2 monolayer and black phosphorus. Meanwhile, the C3S monolayer has high optical absorption coefficients (105 cm–1), high thermal and dynamical stabilities, and a moderate ability to split water. All these desirable properties make the C3S monolayer a promising candidate for applications in novel optoelectronic devices.