Near–atomic-scale observation of grain boundaries in a layer-stacked two-dimensional polymer

Qi H, Sahabudeen H, Liang B, Polozij M, Addicoat MA, Gorelik TE, Hambsch M, Mundszinger M, Park S, Lotsch B, Mannsfeld SCB, Zheng Z, Dong R, Heine T, Feng X, Kaiser U (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Science Advances American Association for the Advancement of Science

Book Volume: 6

Article Number: eabb5976

Journal Issue: 33

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb5976

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) polymers, hold great promise in the rational materials design tailored for next-generation applications. However, little is known about the grain boundaries in 2D polymers, not to mention their formation mechanisms and potential influences on the material’s functionalities. Using aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, we present a direct observation of the grain boundaries in a layer-stacked 2D polyimine with a resolution of 2.3 Å, shedding light on their formation mechanisms. We found that the polyimine growth followed a “birth-and-spread” mechanism. Antiphase boundaries implemented a self-correction to the missing-linker and missing-node defects, and tilt boundaries were formed via grain coalescence. Notably, we identified grain boundary reconstructions featuring closed rings at tilt boundaries. Quantum mechanical calculations revealed that boundary reconstruction is energetically allowed and can be generalized into different 2D polymer systems. We envisage that these results may open up the opportunity for future investigations on defect-property correlations in 2D polymers.

Involved external institutions

Universität Ulm DE Germany (DE) Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE) Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung DE Germany (DE) Sun Yat-Sen University CN China (CN) Nottingham Trent University GB United Kingdom (GB)

How to cite

APA:

Qi, H., Sahabudeen, H., Liang, B., Polozij, M., Addicoat, M.A., Gorelik, T.E.,... Kaiser, U. (2020). Near–atomic-scale observation of grain boundaries in a layer-stacked two-dimensional polymer. Science Advances, 6(33). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb5976

MLA:

Qi, Haoyuan, et al. "Near–atomic-scale observation of grain boundaries in a layer-stacked two-dimensional polymer." Science Advances 6.33 (2020).

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