Unveiling the oxidation behavior of liquid-phase exfoliated antimony nanosheets

Antimonene, a monolayer of β-antimony, is increasingly attracting considerable attention beyond other monoelemental two-dimensional materials due to its intriguing physical and chemical properties. Under ambient conditions, antimonene exhibits a high thermodynamic stability and good structural integrity. Some theoretical calculations predicted a high oxidation tendency of antimonene. However, it still remains poorly investigated from the experimental point of view. In this work, we study the oxidation behavior of antimonene nanosheets (ANS) prepared by ultrasonication-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE). Using a set of forefront analytical techniques, a clear effect of sonication time on the surface chemistry of prepared ANS is found. A dynamic oxidation behavior has been observed, which upon annealing at moderate temperature (210 °C) resulted in a semiconducting behavior with a bandgap of ca. 1 eV measured by ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy. This study yields valuable information for future applications of antimonene and paves the way towards novel modification approaches in order to tailor its properties and complement its limitations.