Surface functionalization and passivation of exfoliated black phosphorus with metal nanoparticles

In the last few years, the family of 2D materials is rapidly growing and among the new members, phosphorene (2D BP) is emerging for its outstanding physical and materials properties.1 Nevertheless, its chemistry remains rather unexplored, only recently a first series of covalent and non-covalent functionalization of 2D BP have been achieved.1 Our efforts have been devoted to the preparation and functionalization of 2D BP with nickel2 and palladium nanoparticles. Gratifyingly, TEM, Raman and XPS measurements carried out on the aged Ni/2D BP sample, evidenced its improved ambient stability in comparison to pristine BP. Afterwards, the new nanohybrids Ni/2D BP and Pd/2D BP were successfully applied as catalyst in hydrogenation reactions.