Arsenene and Antimonene: Two-Dimensional Materials with High Thermoelectric Figures of Merit

Graphene has a big head start, but other two-dimensional (2D) materials continue to pique interest---and not just for electronics. These systems also might be good, for example, in thermoelectric devices to scavenge wasted energy, and many basic questions need to be addressed. The authors use density functional theory plus semiclassical Boltzmann transport to study As and Sb monolayers, and find that both show excellent thermoelectric response. With low phonon group velocities and vibrational frequencies reducing lattice thermal conductivity, they outperform all known 2D materials, and are serious competition even for well-established thermoelectrics.