Grain Boundaries Are Benign and Suppress Nonradiative Electron-Hole Recombination in Monolayer Black Phosphorus: A Time-Domain Ab Initio Study.

Using time-domain density functional theory combined with nonadiabatic molecular dynamics, we demonstrate that both symmetrical (GB_s) and asymmetrical grain boundaries (GB_a) significantly extend charge-carrier lifetime compared with monolayer black phosphorus. Boundaries create no deep trap states, which decrease electron-phonon coupling. As a result, GB_s increases carrier lifetime by a factor of 22, whereas GB_a extends the lifetime by a factor of 4. More importantly, the interplay between the immobile electron localized at the boundaries in the GB_s and extended excited-state lifetime facilitates a chemical reaction, which is beneficial for photocatalysts. In contrast, GB_a separates electron and hole spatially in different locations, which forms a long-lived charge-separated state and is favorable for photovoltaics. Our simulations demonstrate that grain boundaries are benign and retard nonradiative electron-hole recombination in monolayer black phosphorus, suggesting a route to reduce energy losses via rational choice of defect to realize high-performance photovoltaic and photocatalytic devices.