Supercritical carbon dioxide-assisted rapid synthesis of few-layer black phosphorus for hydrogen peroxide sensing

Solutions with large-scale dispersions of 2D black phosphorus (BP), often referred to as phosphorene, are obtained through solvent exfoliation. But, rapid phosphorene synthesis remains a challenge. Furthermore, although the chemical sensing capability of BP-based sensors has been theoretically predicted, its experimental verification remains lacking. In this study, we demonstrate the use of supercritical carbon dioxide-assisted rapid synthesis (5 h) of few-layer BP. In addition, we construct a non-enzymatic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) sensor based on few-layer BP for the first time to utilize BP degradation under ambient conditions. The proposed H2O2 sensor exhibits a considerably lower detection limit of 1×10−7 M compared with the general detection limit of 1×10−7 M-5×10−5 M via electrochemical methods. Overall, the results of this study will not only expand the coverage of BP research but will also identify the important sensing characteristics of BP.