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By employing first-principles computations and particle-swarm optimization calculations, we theoretically confirmed the honeycomb geometry of experimentally realized BC 3 sheet, which is constructed by the hexagonal carbon-ring fragments surrounded by six boron atoms and has pronounced thermodynamic stabilities. Remarkably, the computations also demonstrate the visible-light absorption, high carrier mobilities, and promising reduction and oxidation capacities of the BC 3 monolayer, indicating its efficient absorption of solar radiation, fast migration of electron and holes, and excellent capabilities of photoinduced carriers in a photocatalytic process, respectively. Additionally, its indirect band gap, spatially separated charge distributions, and great difference in mobilities of electrons and holes should lead to the restricted recombination of photoactivated e - -h + pairs within BC 3 monolayer. All above-mentioned characteristics suggest that the honeycomb BC 3 monolayer should be a recommendable candidate for metal-free photocatalysts, which is worthy of further verifications and explorations in experimental studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Graphene has attracted a lot of attention for ultracapacitor electrodes because of its high electrical conductivity, high surface area, and superb chemical stability. However, poor volumetric capacitive performance of typical graphene-based electrodes has hindered their practical applications because of the extremely low density. Herein we report a scalable synthesis method of holey graphene (h-Graphene) in a single step without using any catalysts or special chemicals. The film made of the as-synthesized h-Graphene exhibited relatively strong mechanical strength, 2D hole morphology, high density, and facile processability. This scalable one-step synthesis method for h-Graphene is time-efficient, cost-efficient, environmentally friendly, and generally applicable to other two-dimensional materials. The ultracapacitor electrodes based on the h-Graphene show a remarkably improved volumetric capacitance with about 700% increase compared to that of regular graphene electrodes. Modeling on individual h-Graphene was carried out to understand the excellent processability and improved ultracapacitor performance.