Ultrahigh Carrier Mobility in Two-Dimensional IV-VI Semiconductors for Photocatalytic Water Splitting

Two-dimensional materials have been developed as novel photovoltaic and photocatalytic devices because of their excellent properties. In this work, four delta-IV-VI monolayers, GeS, GeSe, SiS and SiSe, are investigated as semiconductors with desirable bandgaps using the first-principles method. These delta-IV-VI monolayers exhibit exceptional toughness; in particular, the yield strength of the GeSe monolayer has no obvious deterioration at 30% strain. Interestingly, the GeSe monolayer also possesses ultrahigh electron mobility along the x direction of approximately 32,507 cm(2 .)V (-1.)s(-1), which is much higher than that of the other delta-IV-VI monolayers. Moreover, the calculated capacity for hydrogen evolution reaction of these delta-IV-VI monolayers further implies their potential for applications in photovoltaic and nano-devices.