Facile Chimie Douce Route Towards Ferrimagnetic PtSe₂ Materials

Se-containing materials often synthesized by solution-assisted from toxic and expensive organo-Se precursors. We are reporting a facile alternative utilizing elemental Se which is cheap and non-toxic. Elemental Se reagent has a drawback of low solubility and reactivity resulting in sluggish kinetics at low temperatures. A process of elemental Se activation was developed resulting in stable solution of multiple Se^2–/Se^1– species in dynamic equilibrium. The developed activated Se precursor allows us to produce few-layers thick PtSe₂-based nanomaterials at near room temperature. The developed synthetic method opens ways for controlled incorporation of 3d transition metals into PtSe₂ intra- and interlayer space. The resulting M-PtSe₂ materials exhibit ferrimagnetic properties with atypical temperature dependences of coercivity.