A facile synthesis of Au-nanoparticles decorated PbI(2) single crystalline nanosheets for optoelectronic device applications

This research communication presents a rapid and facile microwave-assisted synthesis of single crystalline nanosheets (SCNSs) of hexagonal lead iodide (PbI(2)) decorated with Au nanoparticles, a potential optoelectronics material. Homogeneous low dimensional AuNP decoration in PbI(2) resulted in a new absorption band at ~604 nm and a shift in band gap from 3.23 to 3.00 eV. The significant enhancement of photoluminescent (PL) intensity observed in the AuNP-PbI(2) SCNSs is attributed to the coupling of the localized surface plasmon resonanzce of AuNP leading to improved excitation and emission rates of PbI(2)-SCNSs in the region of the localized electromagnetic field. The Au-PbI(2) SCNSs display a compelling increment in photoconductivity, and its fabricated photodetector showed a stable and switchable photo-response. Due to ease of synthesis and enhanced photoconductivity along with appealing PL features, Au-PbI(2) SCNS has the potential to be used as a material of choice when fabricating an optoelectronic devices of high performance.