RESEARCH ARTICLE

Rapid oxidation of black phosphorus induced by copper ions via promoting oxygen bonding and phosphate desorption

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
² Nano Structural Materials Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
³ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
⁴ Nanjing Qixia District Hospital, Nanjing 210046, China
⁵ Cambridge A-Level Centre, Nanjing Jinling High School, Nanjing 210005, China

^* Corresponding author (email: lmao@nju.edu.cn)

Received: 25 December 2023
Revised: 25 March 2024
Accepted: 2 April 2024

Abstract

Black phosphorus (BP) has garnered significant interest in the field of biomedicine because of its exceptional degradability. The oxidation product of BP phosphate has been utilized in numerous studies for the purpose of repairing bone defects and inducing apoptosis and autophagy in cancer cells. Nevertheless, this process has drawbacks in terms of low yield and a slow rate of phosphate production. In this study, we found that the oxidation rate of BP was increased 120-fold and the yield proportion of phosphate BP product was increased from 30% to 85% with the presence of less than 0.1% copper ions (Cu²⁺) in the reaction system. The enhancement was attributed to the fact that the presence of Cu²⁺ promoted the bonding of oxygen on the BP surface and then the desorption of phosphate molecules from the BP surface. This study offers a novel perspective on the process of BP oxidation and introduces innovative concepts for the development of biological drug delivery systems capable of rapid decomposition.