Photoluminescent Semiconducting Graphene Nanoribbons via Longitudinally Unzipping Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Graphene nanoribbons grown in hBN stacks for high-performance electronics

Van der Waals encapsulation of two-dimensional materials in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) stacks is a promising way to create ultrahigh-performance electronic devices1-4. However, contemporary approaches for achieving van der Waals encapsulation, which involve artificial layer stacking using mechanical transfer techniques, are difficult to control, prone to contamination and unscalable. Here we report the transfer-free direct growth of high-quality graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) in hBN stacks. The as-grown embedded GNRs exhibit highly desirable features being ultralong (up to 0.25 mm), ultranarrow (<5 nm) and homochiral with zigzag edges. Our atomistic simulations show that the mechanism underlying the embedded growth involves ultralow GNR friction when sliding between AA'-stacked hBN layers. Using the grown structures, we demonstrate the transfer-free fabrication of embedded GNR field-effect devices that exhibit excellent performance at room temperature with mobilities of up to 4,600 cm2 V-1 s-1 and on-off ratios of up to 106. This paves the way for the bottom-up fabrication of high-performance electronic devices based on embedded layered materials.

High-Performance Photodetectors Based on Semiconducting Graphene Nanoribbons

The inherent zero-band gap nature of graphene and its fast photocarrier recombination rate result in poor optical gain and responsivity when graphene is used as the light absorption medium in photodetectors. Here, semiconducting graphene nanoribbons with a direct bandgap of 1.8 eV are synthesized and employed to construct a vertical heterojunction photodetector. At a bias voltage of -5 V, the photodetector exhibits a responsivity of 1052 A/W, outperforming previous graphene-based heterojunction photodetectors by several orders of magnitude. The achieved detectivity of 3.13 × 1013 Jones and response time of 310 μs are also among the best values for graphene-based heterojunction photodetectors reported until date. Furthermore, even under zero bias, the photodetector demonstrates a high responsivity and detectivity of 1.04 A/W and 2.45 × 1012 Jones, respectively. The work shows a great potential of graphene nanoribbon-based photodetection technology.

Flexible and Stretchable Carbon-Based Sensors and Actuators for Soft Robots

In recent years, the emergence of low-dimensional carbon-based materials, such as carbon dots, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, together with the advances in materials science, have greatly enriched the variety of flexible and stretchable electronic devices. Compared with conventional rigid devices, these soft robotic sensors and actuators exhibit remarkable advantages in terms of their biocompatibility, portability, power efficiency, and wearability, thus creating myriad possibilities of novel wearable and implantable tactile sensors, as well as micro-/nano-soft actuation systems. Interestingly, not only are carbon-based materials ideal constituents for photodetectors, gas, thermal, triboelectric sensors due to their geometry and extraordinary sensitivity to various external stimuli, but they also provide significantly more precise manipulation of the actuators than conventional centimeter-scale pneumatic and hydraulic robotic actuators, at a molecular level. In this review, we summarize recent progress on state-of-the-art flexible and stretchable carbon-based sensors and actuators that have creatively added to the development of biomedicine, nanoscience, materials science, as well as soft robotics. In the end, we propose the future potential of carbon-based materials for biomedical and soft robotic applications.

Advances in Two-Dimensional Materials for Optoelectronics Applications

The past one and a half decades have witnessed the tremendous progress of two-dimensional (2D) crystals, including graphene, transition-metal dichalcogenides, black phosphorus, MXenes, hexagonal boron nitride, etc., in a variety of fields. The key to their success is their unique structural, electrical, mechanical and optical properties. Herein, this paper gives a comprehensive summary on the recent advances in 2D materials for optoelectronic approaches with the emphasis on the morphology and structure, optical properties, synthesis methods, as well as detailed optoelectronic applications. Additionally, the challenges and perspectives in the current development of 2D materials are also summarized and indicated. Therefore, this review can provide a reference for further explorations and innovations of 2D material-based optoelectronics devices.

Role of N-Doping and O-Groups in Unzipped N-Doped CNT Carbocatalyst for Peroxomonosulfate Activation: Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship

We examined the relationship between the intrinsic structure of a carbocatalyst and catalytic activity of peroxomonosulfate (PMS) activation for acetaminophen degradation. A series of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes with different degrees of oxidation was synthesized by the unzipping method. The linear regression analysis proposes that pyridinic N and graphitic N played a key role in the catalytic oxidation, rather than pyrrolic N and oxidized N. Pyridinic N reinforce the electron population in the graphitic framework and initiate the non-radical pathway via the formation of surface-bound radicals. Furthermore, graphitic N forms activated complexes (carbocatalyst-PMS*), facilitating the electron-transfer oxidative pathway. The correlation also affirms that -C=O was dominantly involved as a main active site, rather than -C-OH and -COOH. This study can be viewed as the first attempt to demonstrate the relationship between the fraction of N-groups and activity, and the quantity of O-groups and activity by active species (quenching studies) was established to reveal the role of N-groups and O-groups in the radical and non-radical pathways.

Graphene-Oxide-Based Fluoro- and Chromo-Genic Materials and Their Applications

Composite materials and their applications constitute a hot field of research nowadays due to the fact that they comprise a combination of the unique properties of each component of which they consist. Very often, they exhibit better performance and properties compared to their combined building blocks. Graphene oxide (GO), as the most widely used derivative of graphene, has attracted widespread attention because of its excellent properties. Abundant oxygen-containing functional groups on GO can provide various reactive sites for chemical modification or functionalization of GO, which in turn can be used to develop novel GO-based composites. This review outlines the most recent advances in the field of novel dyes and pigments encompassing GO as a key ingredient or as an important cofactor. The interactions of graphene with other materials/compounds are highlighted. The special structure and unique properties of GO have a great effect on the performance of fabricated hybrid dyes and pigments by enhancing the color performance of dyes, the anticorrosion properties of pigments, the viscosity and rheology of inks, etc., which further expands the applications of dyes and pigments in dyeing, optical elements, solar-thermal energy storage, sensing, coatings, and microelectronics devices. Finally, challenges in the current development as well as the future prospects of GO-based dyes and pigments are also discussed. This review provides a reference for the further exploration of novel dyes and pigments.