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Two dimensional (2D) imine-based covalent organic framework (COF), 2D-COF, is a newly emerging molecular 2D polymer with potential applications in thin film electronics, sensing, and catalysis. It is considered an ideal candidate due to its robust 2D nature and precise tunability of the electronic and functional properties. Herein, we report a scalable facile synthesis of 2D imine-COF with control over film thickness (ranging from 100 nm to a few monolayers) and film dimension reaching up to 2 cm on a dielectric (glass) substrate. Highly crystalline 2D imine polymer films are formed by maintaining a quasi-equilibrium (very slow, ∼15 h) in Schiff base condensation reaction between p-phenylenediamine (PDA) and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxaldehyde (TCA) molecules. Free-standing thin and ultrathin films of imine-COF are obtained using sonication exfoliation of 2D-COF polymer. Insights into the microstructure of thin/ultrathin imine-COF are obtained using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), which shows high crystallinity and 2D layered structure in both thin and ultrathin films. The chemical nature of the 2D polymer was established using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Optical band gap measurements also reveal a semiconducting gap. This is further established by electronic structure calculation using density functional theory (DFT), which reveals a semiconductor-like band structure with strong dispersion in bands near conduction and valence band edges. The structural characteristics (layered morphology and microscopic structure) of 2D imine-COF show significant potential for its application in thin film device fabrication. In addition, the electronic structure shows strong dispersion in the frontier bands, making it a potential semiconducting material for charge carrier transportation in electronic devices.

The large-scale production of CO2in the atmosphere has triggered global warming, the greenhouse effect, and ocean acidification. The CO2conversion to valuable chemical products or its capture and storage are of fundamental importance to mitigate the greenhouse effect on the environment. Therefore, exploring new two-dimensional (2D) materials is indispensable due to their potential intriguing properties. Here, we report a new family of 2D transition metal borides (M2B2, M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, and Fe; known as MBenes) and demonstrate their static and dynamic stability. These MBenes show a metallic nature and exhibit excellent electrical conductivity. The CO2adsorption energy on MBenes ranges from −1.04 to −3.95 eV and exhibits the decreasing order as Sc2B2> Ti2B2> V2B2> Cr2B2> Mn2B2> Fe2B2. The spin-polarization calculation shows a reduction in the adsorption energy for magnetic systems. Bader charge transfer indicates the formation of CO2δ−moiety on the MBene surface, so-called activated CO2, which is essential for its reaction with other surface chemicals. Differential charge density plots reveal a significant charge accumulation around the CO2molecule. Our theoretical results predict the usage of new MBenes as a cost-effective catalyst for CO2capture and activation.

The capture, activation, and dissociation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is of fundamental interest to overcome the ramifications of the greenhouse effect. In this regard, high-throughput screening of two-dimensional MXenes has been examined using well-resolved first-principles simulations through DFT-D3 dispersion correction. We systematically investigated different types of structural defects to understand their influence on the performance of M2X-type MXenes. Defect calculations demonstrate that the formation of M2C(VMC) and M2N(VMN) vacancies require higher energy, while M2C(VC) and M2N(VN) vacancies are favorable to form during the synthesis of M2X-type MXenes. The M2X-type MXenes from group III to VII series show remarkable behavior for active capturing of CO2, especially group IV (Ti2X and Zr2X) MXenes exhibit unprecedentedly high adsorption energies and charge transfer (>2e) from M2X to CO2. The potential CO2capture, activation, and dissociation abilities of MXenes are emanated from Dewar interactions involving hybridization between π orbitals of CO2and metal d-orbitals. Our high-throughput screening demonstrates chemisorption of CO2on pure and defective MXenes, followed by dissociation into CO and O species.

In this study, we investigated the catalytic activity of ultrathin PtS2and WS2nanostructures for the hydrogen evolution reaction by electronic structure calculations based on the spin-polarised density functional theory. We also explored the effect of van der Waals interactions on the surface–adsorbate interactions. Using the adsorption free energy of H2as an activity descriptor, we tuned the photocatalytic water splitting activity of PtS2and WS2by functionalizing the individual systems with different transition metals such as Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Ir, Au, and Hg. The density of states was calculated along with the band structure to find the effect of different dopants on the fundamental band gap, which is one of the primary parameters in the photocatalytic water splitting.