Synthesis of Highly Stable One-Dimensional Black Phosphorus/h-BN Heterostructures: A Novel Flexible Electronic Platform

Layered black phosphorus (BP) has recently emerged as a promising semiconductor because of its tunable band gap, high carrier mobility and strongly in-plane anisotropic properties. One-dimensional (1D) BP materials are attractive for applications in electronic and thermal devices, owing to their tailored charge and phonon transports along certain orientations. However, the fabrication of 1D BP materials still remains elusive thus far. We herein report the successful synthesis and characterization of nanotube-like BP for the first time by a selective composite with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanotubes under high pressure and high temperature conditions. The produced 1D BP/h-BN composites possess flexible diameter, length and thickness by adjusting the experimental synthesis parameters. Interestingly, it is important to notice that the stability of our BP sample has been significantly improved under the formation of heterostructures, which can actively promote their commercial applications. Our experimental work, together with first-principles calculations, presents a new scalable strategy of designing 1D tube-like BP/h-BN heterostructures that are promising candidates for flexible and high efficiency electronic platform.