Sensing Applications of Atomically Thin Group IV Carbon Siblings Xenes: Progress, Challenges, and Prospects

The 2D graphene (G) nanosheets (NSs) discovery is amound the foremost revolutionary incidents in materials science history. This discovery has stimulated huge attention in the study of other novel 2D materials (2DMs). This trend might be called modern day “alchemy,” where the basic aim is to convert most of periodic table elements into G like 2D structures. Monoelemental, atomically thin 2DMs, called “Xenes” (“X” = group (III–VI)A elements, “ene” suffix that indicates one atom thick 2D layer of atoms) which are a newly invented family among nanomaterials. The number of predicted and experimentally synthesized 2D Xene materials of group IVA, i.e., G's siblings, has gained attention in nanosize devices. Such materials involve buckle structures that have recently been experimentally fabricated. The 2D Xene materials analog to G offer exciting potential for novel sensing applications. The group IVA Xenes, in cooperation with their ligand-functionalized derivatives, arrange in a honeycomb lattice analogous to G but through a changeable degree of buckling. Their electronic structure ranges from trivial insulators passing via semiconductors with tunable gaps, to semimetallic, depending on substrate, chemical functionalization, and strain. In this review, different potential synthesis methods for group IVA 2D Xenes are briefly presented. A brief overview of their properties obtained theoretically and experimentally is presented, and finally their potential sensing applications are discussed.