Facile synthesis of tin phosphite nanosheets via exfoliated bulk crystals: Electronic structure and piezoelectric property

•SnHPO3 nanosheets were obtained by a facile exfoliation method.•SnHPO3 nanosheets exhibit blue-shift in UV absorbance.•The piezoelectric coefficients of SnHPO3 monolayer were calculated.•The piezoelectric coefficients of SnHPO3 monolayer are larger than h-BN monolayer.

Tin phosphite nanosheets were synthesized by a facile exfoliation method. SnHPO3 nanosheets with a thickness of ∼2.6 nm readily form a stable colloidal suspension in ethanol using ultrasonic method. Structures and optical properties of the obtained nanosheets were investigated. The prepared SnHPO3 nanosheets exhibit an obvious blue-shift in UV absorbance compared with bulk SnHPO3 crystal materials. Moreover, the piezoelectric coefficients of SnHPO3 monolayer were calculated based on density functional theory, which are larger than that of h-BN monolayer, indicating this material could be a good candidate for designing electro-optical nano-devices.

Graphical abstractSnHPO3 monolayer exhibits good intrinsic piezoelectricity properties based on DFT calculations.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (124 K)Download as PowerPoint slide