Metallated Graphynes as a New Class of Photofunctional 2D Organometallic Nanosheets

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are attracting much attention due to their excellent electronic and optical properties. Here, we report the first experimental preparation of two free-standing mercurated graphyne nanosheets via the interface-assisted bottom-up method, which integrates both the advantages of metal center and graphyne. The continuous large-area nanosheets derived from the chemical growth show the layered molecular structural arrangement, controllable thickness and enhanced π-conjugation, which result in their stable and outstanding broadband nonlinear saturable absorption (SA) properties (at both 532 and 1064 nm). The passively Q-switched (PQS) performances of these two nanosheets as the saturable absorbers are comparable to or higher than those of the state-of-the-art 2D nanomaterials (such as graphene, black phosphorus, MoS₂, γ-graphyne, etc.). Our results illustrate that the two metallated graphynes could act not only as a new class of 2D carbon-rich materials, but also as inexpensive and easily available optoelectronic materials for device fabrication.