Boosting the self-powered photodetection of two-dimensional SnSe2 by red-emissive carbon dots

Innovative and efficient photodetectors (PDs) using carbon dots (CDs) have drawn tremendous interest from electrochemical analyses in recent years. This study develops a chips Ahoy cookies-like architecture comprising CDs-decorated SnSe 2 (CSS) through a simple hydrothermal method. The CSS-based PDs demonstrate excellent photo-responsive behaviors with optimal photocurrent density ( P ph , 60.13 μA cm −2 ), photoresponsivity ( R ph , 56.03 μA W −1 ), and detectivity (2.84 × 10 10 Jones). The benefits of CDs for the enhanced photodetection of CSS were ascribed to the synergy between CDs and SnSe 2 providing an engineered interface and abundant active surface sites. It was also found that the unique morphology of CSS was compatible with the performance enhancement of CDs under optimal conditions. In this way, the CSS-based flexible PDs can enrich the fundamental study of CDs and pave the way for the exploration of diselenide-based composites for electrochemical photodetection.