Two Faces Under a Hood: Unravelling the Energy Harnessing and Storage Properties of 1T-MoS2 Quantum Sheets for Next-Generation Stand-Alone Energy Systems

Untethered Magnetic Soft Robot with Ultra-Flexible Wirelessly Rechargeable Micro-Supercapacitor as an Onboard Power Source

Soft robotics has developed rapidly in recent years as an emergent research topic, offering new avenues for various industrial and biomedical settings. Despite these advancements, its applicability is limited to locomotion and actuation due to the lack of an adequate charge storage system that can support the robot's sensory system in challenging conditions. Herein, an ultra-flexible, lightweight (≈50 milligrams), and wirelessly rechargeable micro-supercapacitor as an onboard power source for miniaturized soft robots, capable of powering a range of sensory is proposed. The simple and scalable direct laser combustion technique is utilized to fabricate the robust graphene-like carbon micro-supercapacitor (GLC-MSC) electrode. The GLC-MSC demonstrates superior areal capacitance (8.76 mF cm-2 ), and maintains its original capacitance even under extreme actuation frequency (1-30 Hz). As proof of conceptthe authors fabricate a fully integrated magnetic-soft robot that shows outstanding locomotion aptitude and charged wirelessly (up to 2.4 V within 25s), making it an ideal onboard power source for soft robotics.

2D Materials Beyond Post-AI Era: Smart Fibers, Soft Robotics, and Single Atom Catalysts

Recent consecutive discoveries of various 2D materials have triggered significant scientific and technological interests owing to their exceptional material properties, originally stemming from 2D confined geometry. Ever-expanding library of 2D materials can provide ideal solutions to critical challenges facing in current technological trend of the fourth industrial revolution. Moreover, chemical modification of 2D materials to customize their physical/chemical properties can satisfy the broad spectrum of different specific requirements across diverse application areas. This review focuses on three particular emerging application areas of 2D materials: smart fibers, soft robotics, and single atom catalysts (SACs), which hold immense potentials for academic and technological advancements in the post-artificial intelligence (AI) era. Smart fibers showcase unconventional functionalities including healthcare/environmental monitoring, energy storage/harvesting, and antipathogenic protection in the forms of wearable fibers and textiles. Soft robotics aligns with future trend to overcome longstanding limitations of hard-material based mechanics by introducing soft actuators and sensors. SACs are widely useful in energy storage/conversion and environmental management, principally contributing to low carbon footprint for sustainable post-AI era. Significance and unique values of 2D materials in these emerging applications are highlighted, where the research group has devoted research efforts for more than a decade.

Smart Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on Stimulus-Response Materials: From Intelligent Applications to Self-Powered Systems

Smart responsive materials can react to external stimuli via a reversible mechanism and can be directly combined with a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to deliver various intelligent applications, such as sensors, actuators, robots, artificial muscles, and controlled drug delivery. Not only that, mechanical energy in the reversible response of innovative materials can be scavenged and transformed into decipherable electrical signals. Because of the high dependence of amplitude and frequency on environmental stimuli, self-powered intelligent systems may be thus built and present an immediate response to stress, electrical current, temperature, magnetic field, or even chemical compounds. This review summarizes the recent research progress of smart TENGs based on stimulus-response materials. After briefly introducing the working principle of TENG, we discuss the implementation of smart materials in TENGs with a classification of several sub-groups: shape-memory alloy, piezoelectric materials, magneto-rheological, and electro-rheological materials. While we focus on their design strategy and function collaboration, applications in robots, clinical treatment, and sensors are described in detail to show the versatility and promising future of smart TNEGs. In the end, challenges and outlooks in this field are highlighted, with an aim to promote the integration of varied advanced intelligent technologies into compact, diverse functional packages in a self-powered mode.

Phase Transition Induced via the Template Enabling Cocoon-like MoS2 an Exceptionally Electromagnetic Absorber

Structural engineering via the template method is efficient for micro-nano assembling. However, only structural design and lack of composition control restrict their advanced application. To overcome this issue, applying a template to simultaneously realize the structural design and fine component control is highly desired, which has been ignored. In this study, a spinel-shaped MoS₂ heterostructure with controlled phase ratios of 1H and 2H phase is developed using the AlOOH template method. This work demonstrates that the MoS₂ phase transition mechanism from 2H to 1T is substantially attributed to the close exposed crystal's surface and approximately accordant surface energy. The superiority and additional proof are provided based on density-functional theory simulation, transmission electron microscope holography, etc. With an effective absorptance region of 6.3 GHz under a thickness of 1.4 mm, the reported samples present outstanding microwave absorption capacity. This is attributed to the beneficial coupled effect between the well-designed structure and phase regulation. This work offers valuable insights into structural engineering and component regulation template methods.

Construction and Synthesis of MoS2/Biocarbon Composites for Efficient Visible Light-Driven Catalytic Degradation of Humic Acid

MoS2/bio-template carbon composite materials with outstanding photocatalytic degradation performance were constructed and synthesized by an impregnation–hydrothermal–calcination (IHC) method. Composites of the same type were synthesized by a direct-impregnation–calcination (DIC) method for comparison. The results showed that calcination process was obtained from biotemplate carbon with preserved structure. IHC method obtained petal-like MoS2, while DIC method obtained needle-like MoS2. The composite material exhibits adsorption–catalytic degradation performance. Driven by visible light, the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the composites synthesized by IHC method for humic acid reached 98.73% after 150 min of illumination.

Rational design of selenium inserted 1T/2H mixed-phase molybdenum disulfide for energy storage and pollutant degradation applications

MoS₂based materials are recognized as the promising candidate for multifunctional applications due to its unique physicochemical properties. But presence of lower number of active sites, poor electrical conductivity, and less stability of 2H and 1T MoS₂inherits its practical applications. Herein, we synthesized the Se inserted mixed-phase 2H/1T MoS₂nanosheets with abundant defects sites to achieve improved overall electrochemical activity. Moreover, the chalcogen insertion induces the recombination of photogenerated excitons and enhances the life of carriers. The bifunctional energy storage and photocatalytic pollutant degradation studies of the prepare materials are carried out. Fabricated symmetric solid-state supercapacitor showed an exceptional capacitance of 178 mF cm^-2with an excellent energy density of 8μWh cm^-2and power density of 137 mW cm^-2, with remarkable capacitance retention of 86.34% after successive 8000 charge-discharge cycles. The photocatalytic dye degradation experiments demonstrate that the prepared Se incorporated 1T/2H MoS₂is a promising candidate for dye degradation applications. Further, the DFT studies confirmed that the Se inserted MoS₂is a promising electrode material for supercapacitor applications with higherC_Qdue to a larger density of states near Fermi level as compared to pristine MoS₂.