Computational Dissection of Two-Dimensional Rectangular Titanium Mononitride TiN: Auxetics and Promises for Photocatalysis

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) mateirals with a negative Poisson’s ratios (auxetics) have triggered an enormous interest for their potential applications in the next-generation readable/writeable memory and optoelectronic technologies. Here, by using a broad range of first-principles calculations, we report a systematic study of 2D rectangular materials of titanium mononitride (TiN), exhibiting high energetic and thermal stability due to in-plane d–p orbital hybridization and synergetic out-of-plane electronic delocalization. The rectangular TiN monolayer also possesses enhanced auxeticity and ferroelasticity with an alternating order of Possion’s Ratios, stemming from the competitive interactions of intra- and inter- Ti—N chains. Such TiN nanosystem is a n-type metallic conductor with specific tunable pseudogaps. Halogenation of TiN monolayer downshifts the Fermi level, achieving the optical energy gap up to 1.85 eV for TiNCl(Br) sheet. Overall, observed electronic features suggest that the two materials are potential photocatalysts for water splitting application.