Improving the Resolution of Flexible Large-Area Tactile Sensors through Machine-Learning Perception

Industrial robots are the main piece of equipment of intelligent manufacturing, and array-type tactile sensors are considered to be the core devices for their active sensing and understanding of the production environment. A great challenge for existing array-type tactile sensors is the wiring of sensing units in a limited area, the contradiction between a small number of sensing units and high resolution, and the deviation of the overall output pattern due to the difference in the performance of each sensing unit itself. Inspired by the human somatosensory processing hierarchy, we combine tactile sensors with artificial intelligence algorithms to simplify the sensor architecture while achieving tactile resolution capabilities far greater than the number of signal channels. The prepared 8-electrode carbon-based conductive network achieves high-precision identification of 32 regions with 97% classification accuracy assisted by a quadratic discriminant analysis algorithm. Notably, the output of the sensor remains unchanged after 13,000 cycles at 60 kPa, indicating its excellent durability performance. Moreover, the large-area skin-like continuous conductive network is simple to fabricate, cost-effective, and can be easily scaled up/down depending on the application. This work may address the increasing need for simple fabrication, rapid integration, and adaptable geometry tactile sensors for use in industrial robots.

Large-area, size-controlled and transferable graphene oxide-metal films for humidity sensor

The lack of low-cost methods to synthesize large-area graphene-based materials is still an important factor that limits the practical application of graphene devices. Herein, we present a facile method for producing large-area graphene oxide-metal (GO-M) films, which are size controllable and transferable. The sensor constructed using the GO-M film exhibited humidity sensitivity while being unaffected by pressure. The relationship between the sensor's resistance and relative humidity followed an exponential trend. The GO-Mg sensor was the most sensitive among all the tested sensors. The facile synthesis of GO-M films will accelerate the widespread utilization of graphene-based materials.

Large-Area Flexible Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes Enabled by Inkjet Printing

Metal halide perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) are attracting increasing attention due to their potential applications in flat panel lighting and displays. The solution process, large-area fabrication, and flexibility are attractive properties of PeLEDs over traditional inorganic LEDs. However, it is still very challenging to deposit uniform perovskite films on flexible substrates using a blade or slot-die coating, as the flexible substrate is not perfectly flat. Here, the inkjet printing technique is adopted, and the key challenges are overcome step-by-step in preparing large-area films on flexible substrates. Double-hole transporting layers are first used and a wetting interfacial layer to improve the surface wettability so that the printed perovskite droplets can form a continuous wet film. The fluidic and evaporation dynamics of the perovskite wet layer is manipulated to suppress the coffee ring effect by solvent engineering. Uniform perovskite films are obtained finally on flexible substrates with different perovskite compositions. The peak external quantum efficiency of the inkjet-printed PeLEDs reaches 14.3%. Large-area flexible PeLEDs (4 × 7 cm2 ) also show very uniform emission. This work represents a significant step toward real applications of large-area PeLEDs in flexible flat-panel lighting.

All-Glass 100 mm Diameter Visible Metalens for Imaging the Cosmos

Metasurfaces, optics made from subwavelength-scale nanostructures, have been limited to millimeter-sizes by the scaling challenge of producing vast numbers of precisely engineered elements over a large area. In this study, we demonstrate an all-glass 100 mm diameter metasurface lens (metalens) comprising 18.7 billion nanostructures that operates in the visible spectrum with a fast f-number (f/1.5, NA = 0.32) using deep-ultraviolet (DUV) projection lithography. Our work overcomes the exposure area constraints of lithography tools and demonstrates that large metasurfaces are commercially feasible. Additionally, we investigate the impact of various fabrication errors on the imaging quality of the metalens, several of which are specific to such large area metasurfaces. We demonstrate direct astronomical imaging of the Sun, the Moon, and emission nebulae at visible wavelengths and validate the robustness of such metasurfaces under extreme environmental thermal swings for space applications.

Regulating Phase Separation Kinetics for High-Efficiency and Mechanically Robust All-Polymer Solar Cells

All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) possess excellent operation stability and mechanical robustness than other types of organic solar cells, thereby attracting considerable attention for wearable flexible electron devices. However, the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of all-PSCs are still lagging behind those of small-molecule-acceptor-based systems owing to the limitation of photoactive materials and unsatisfactory blend morphology. In this work, a novel terpolymer, denoted as PBDB-TFCl (poly4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)-4-fluorothiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b″]dithiophene-1,3-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-5,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)-4H,8H-benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c″]dithiophene-4,8-dione-4,8-bis(4-chloro-5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene), is used as an electron donor coupled with a ternary strategy to optimize the performance of all-PSCs. The addition of PBDB-TCl unit deepens the highest occupied molecular orbital energy level, reducing voltage losses. Moreover, the introduction of the guest donor (D18-Cl) effectively regulates the phase-transition kinetics of PBDB-TFCl:D18-Cl:PY-IT during the film formation, leading to ideal size of aggregations and enhanced crystallinity. PBDB-TFCl:D18-Cl:PY-IT devices exhibit a PCE of 18.6% (certified as 18.3%), judged as the highest value so far obtained with all-PSCs. Besides, based on the ternary active layer, the manufactured 36 cm2 flexible modules exhibit a PCE of 15.1%. Meanwhile, the ternary PSCs exhibit superior photostability and mechanical stability. In summary, the proposed strategy, based on molecular design and the ternary strategy, allows optimization of the all-polymer blend morphology and improvement of the photovoltaic performance for stable large-scale flexible PSCs.

Customizable Scintillator of Cs3 Cu2 I5 :2% In+ @Paper for Large-Area X-Ray Imaging

High-resolution X-ray imaging is increasingly required for medical diagnosis and large-area detection. However, the issues of scattering and optical crosstalk are limiting the spatial resolution of the indirect X-ray imaging. In this study, a feasible and efficient strategy is proposed to in situ synthesize flexible Cs3 Cu2 I5 :2%In+ @paper as a superior scintillator film, which can be scaled up to an ultra-large area of 4800 cm2 . The as-obtained Cs3 Cu2 I5 :2%In+ @paper performs a fascinating photoluminescence quantum efficiency up to 88.14%, a steady state light yield of 70169 photons/MeV, and spatial resolution of 15 lp mm-1 . Moreover, the suppressed physical scattering and optical crosstalk of the corresponding film are demonstrated. Accordingly, this work explores a feasible fabrication of customizable scintillation films with large area for high-resolution X-ray detection.

Facile filter cloth brush-coating of large-area uniform silver nanowire conductive films for paper-based heater

Filter cloth brush-coating (FCBC), using soft filter cloth as a brush-coating medium, in conjunction with viscous silver nanowire (AgNW) conductive solution, is used to prepare AgNW conductive films. The density and uniformity of AgNWs deposited on the substrate are controlled by the interplay between the filter cloth aperture, the conductive solution viscosity, and the brush-coating speed. Further, with appropriate AgNW concentration and flow rate, uniform AgNW transparent conductive film with sheet resistance of 18 Ω sq-1and transmittance of 94% at 550 nm is acquired by FCBC. Due to the precise control of the coating process in FCBC, large-area uniform AgNW conductive film fabricated on printing paper has a low non-uniformity factor of 1.2% at a sheet resistance of 19.0 Ω sq-1. The resultant paper-based AgNW film heater shows sensitive and stable heating performance. FCBC shows great potential in producing large-area uniform AgNW films on various substrates.

Large-Area Inkjet-Printed Flexible Hybrid Electrodes with Photonic Sintered Silver Grids/High Conductive Polymer

The field of printed organic electronics has not only made flexible devices accessible but also allows the production process toward a high throughput industrial scale. The current research involves the inkjet-printing of an indium tin oxide-free large-area flexible hybrid electrode compose of a high conductivity organic layer (PEDOT: PSS) as a main electrode and inorganic silver nanoparticles-based grid/film for the auxiliary electrode. The current bottleneck in the roll-to-roll production of printed electronics is the time required for the conductive inks to dry and sinter. Flash sintering is used to dry nano-silver conductive ink to 77.6 m Ω □-1 sheet resistance in <20 ms, the quickest annealing procedure, without damaging flexible substrates. Flexible organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are created with a large active area (500 mm2 ) to demonstrate the efficacy of the flexible hybrid electrodes and the excellent bending stability (4 mm bending radius) of OLEDs. Maximum current efficiency of 19.58 cd A-1 and a maximum luminescence of 8708 cd m-2 at a low turn-on voltage of 3.1 V for the small-area (16 mm2 ) OLEDs are achieved. This method is promising for reducing indium consumption and paving the way for creating new high throughout hybrid electrodes for large-area flexible printed electronics.

Ultrasound-Assisted Crystallization Enables Large-Area Perovskite Quasi-Monocrystalline Film for High-Sensitive X-ray Detection and Imaging

In recent years, halide perovskites have shown great application potential in X-ray detection due to their superior optoelectronic properties and high X-ray attenuation coefficient. However, the large-area perovskite fabrication for high performance X-ray detectors remains extremely challenging. Herein, ultrasound-assisted crystallization combined with hot-pressing method is proposed to prepare large-area (10 cm × 10 cm) and high-quality quasi-monocrystalline thick film of a mixed-cation perovskite MA_0.42 FA_0.58 PbI₃ . The rapid ultrasound-assisted crystallization provides more homogeneous nucleation, which is essential to the fabrication of large-area and uniform perovskite microcrystalline film. Furthermore, the post hot-pressing treatment is implemented to fuse the crystal boundaries, rearrange the crystal grains and eliminate the voids between crystals, resulting in a quasi-monocrystalline film. After the hot-pressing treatment, the carrier mobility and the carrier mobility-lifetime product increased about 13-fold (from 1.8 cm² s^-1 V^-1 to 23.5 cm² s^-1 V^-1 ) and 18 times (from 8.4 × 10^-6 cm² V^-1 to 1.5 × 10^-4 cm² V^-1 ) respectively. As a result, a high-performance MA_0.42 FA_0.58 PbI₃ quasi-monocrystalline X-ray detector was achieved with an impressively high sensitivity (1.16 × 10⁶ μC Gy_air ^-1 cm^-2 ) and low detection limit (37.4 nGy_air s^-1 ), demonstrating the potential of the ultrasound-assisted crystallization and hot-pressing strategy from an industrial perspective. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In Situ Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Lateral Semiconducting-Mo:Se//Metallic-Mo Junctions Using Controlled Diffusion of Se for High-Performance Large-Scaled Memristor

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are favorable candidates for resistive memories in high-density nanoelectronics owing to their ultrathin scaling and controllable interfacial characteristics. However, high processing temperatures and difficulties in mechanical transfer are intriguing challenges associated with their implementation in large areas with crossbar architecture. A high processing temperature may damage the electrical functionalities of the bottom electrode, and mechanical transfer of 2D materials may introduce undesirable microscopic defects and macroscopic discontinuities. In this study, an in situ fabrication of an electrode and 2D-molybdenum diselenide (MoSe₂) is reported. The controlled diffusion of selenium (Se) in the predeposited molybdenum (Mo) produces Mo//Mo:Se stacks with a few layers of MoSe₂ on top and MoSe_x on the bottom. Diffusion-assisted Mo//Mo:Se fabrication is observed over a large area (4 in. wafer). Additionally, a 5 × 5 array of crossbar memristors (Mo//Mo:Se//Ag) is fabricated using the diffusion of Se in patterned Mo. These memristors exhibit a small switching voltage (∼1.1 V), high endurance (>250 cycles), and excellent retention (>15 000 s) with minimum cycle-to-cycle and device-to-device variation. Thus, the proposed nondestructive in situ technique not only simplifies the fabrication but also minimizes the number of required stages.

Humidity-Insensitive, Large-Area-Applicable, Hot-Air-Assisted Ambient Fabrication of 2D Perovskite Solar Cells

2D layered perovskites (LPs) have shown great potential to deliver high-performance photovoltaic devices with long-term stability. Despite many signs of progress being made in film quality and device performance, LP films are mainly processed in strict conditions and through non-scalable techniques. Here, the hot-air-assisted ambient fabrication technique is introduced to prepare LP films for efficient and stable solar cells. The high-quality LP films with good crystallinity, preferable orientation and desirable morphology are obtained by balancing the crystal nucleation and growth processes. Employing the synchrotron-based in situ grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction technique, hot air induces the solidification of solutes and forms an intermediate at the air-liquid interface, which transforms into 3D-like perovskite, followed by the growth of the 2D species toward the substrate. The optimal LP film delivers a device power conversion efficiency of 16.36%, the best value for the LP-based solar cells prepared by the non-spin-coating techniques. The solar cell performance is insensitive to the film processing humidity and the device size is upscalable, which promises real-world deployment of LP-based optoelectronic devices.

Combined Vacuum Evaporation and Solution Process for High-Efficiency Large-Area Perovskite Solar Cells with Exceptional Reproducibility

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites exhibit outstanding performances in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the complex solution chemistry of perovskites precursors renders it difficult to prepare large-area devices in a reproducible way, which is a prerequisite for the technology to make an impact beyond lab scale. Vacuum processing, instead, is an established technology for large-scale coating of thin films. However, with respect to the hybrid perovskites it is highly challenging due to the high vapor pressure of the organic ammonium halide. In this work, vacuum evaporation of lead iodide and solution processing of organic ammonium halide is combined to produce large-area homogeneous perovskite films with large grains in a highly reproducible way. The resulting PSCs achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.3% (certified 23.9%) on small area (0.10 cm² ), 24.0% (certified 23.7%) on large area (1 cm² ) and 20.0% for minimodule (16 cm² ), and maintain 90% of its initial efficiency after 1000 h 1-sun operation. The vacuum evaporation prevents advert environmental effects on lead halide formation and guarantees a reproducible fabrication of high-quality large-area perovskite films, which opens a promising way for large-scale fabrication of perovskite optoelectronics.

Wafer-scale controlled growth of MoS2by magnetron sputtering: from in-plane to inter-connected vertically-aligned flakes

Recently, Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has attracted great attention due to its unique characteristics and potential applications in various fields. The advancements in the field have substantially improved at the laboratory scale however, a synthesis approach that produces large area growth of MoS₂on a wafer scale is the key requirement for the realization of commercial two-dimensional (2D) technology. Herein, we report tunable MoS₂growth with varied morphologies via radio frequency magnetron sputtering by controlling growth parameters. The controlled growth from in-plane to vertically-aligned (VA) MoS₂flakes has been achieved on a variety of substrates (Si, Si/SiO₂, sapphire, quartz, and carbon fiber). Moreover, the growth of VA MoS₂is highly reproducible and is fabricated on a wafer scale. The flakes synthesized on the wafer show high uniformity, which is corroborated by the spatial mapping using Raman over the entire 2-inch Si/SiO₂wafer. The detailed morphological, structural, and spectroscopic analysis reveals the transition from in-plane MoS₂to VA MoS₂flakes. This work presents a facile approach to directly synthesize layered materials by sputtering technique on wafer scale. This paves the way for designing mass production of high-quality 2D materials, which will advance their practical applications by integration into device architectures in various fields.

Vertically Oriented Porous PET as Template to Integrated Metal Halide for High-Performance Large-Area and Ultra-Flexible X-Ray Detector

High-performance X-ray detectors have immense potential in medical and security inspections. However, the current X-ray detectors are limited in flexible, high-spatial-resolution large-scale detection, and integration for imaging. Here, nuclear track-etched porous polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is developed as the template for preparing uniform, large-area (≥10⁵ cm² ), and flexible metal halide (MH)-based X-ray detectors. Adjustable high-density vertically oriented porous PET with adjustable thickness can provide proper physical support for flexible thick absorption film, thus improving X-ray absorption ability with excellent bending stability. Moreover, vertical channels can block the ion migration, lateral charge diffusion, and water/oxygen attacks, increasing activation energy for ionic transport, charge collection rate of electrodes, and environmental stability. Hence, the related detectors eventually obtain large sensitivity (6722 µC Gy_air ^-1 cm^-2 ), low detection limit (1.87 nGy_air s^-1 ), and high spatial resolution (5.17 lp mm^-1 ) compared to the detectors without porous PET template. Meanwhile, the device shows no degradation after storage or working under various thermal attacks. MH-filled-PET is also monolithically integrated on the bottom circuit with different MHs and it is applied to single-pixel mode and fast linear-array imaging in a broad range of X-rays photon energy (20 to 160 keV).

Directional Construction of a 1T0.63-MoSe2@MoP Multiphase-Interface Catalyst for Highly Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Alkaline water electrolysis is the most widely used technology for industrial hydrogen production. However, transition-metal dichalcogenides as inert alkaline hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts suffer from sluggish water adsorption and dissociation dynamics originating from the inappropriate intrinsic electronic structure. To address this issue, we report the synthesis of a type of multiphase-interface catalyst (MPIC), 1T_0.63-MoSe₂@MoP (1T = octahedral phase; MoSe₂ = molybdenum selenide; MoP = molybdenum phosphide), that tunes the intrinsic interfacial electronic structure by multiphase synergy, promoting the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Consequently, the self-standing 1T_0.63-MoSe₂@MoP MPIC requires a small overpotential of 358 mV to reach a large current density of 1000 mA cm^-2 in an alkaline freshwater electrolyte, along with impressive HER activity and stability at large current densities in an artificial alkaline seawater electrolyte. This work unravels the potential of Mo-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution at high current densities, owing to the simple and mature synthesis process, which offers a vision to enable large-scale commercial hydrogen generation by seawater electrolysis. Meanwhile, density functional theory studies consistently confirm that the combination of metallic phase and intrinsic HER-active MoP in MoSe₂ could successfully tune its electronic structure to improve the HER catalytic activity.

High-Performance Organic Solar Modules via Bilayer-Merged-Annealing Assisted Blade Coating

Although encouraging progress is being made on spin-coated prototype cells, organic solar cells (OSCs) still face significant challenges, yet to be explored, for upscaling the multi-stacked photoactive layers in the construction of large-area modules. Herein, high-performance opaque and semitransparent organic solar modules are developed via a bilayer-merged-annealing (BMA)-assisted blade-coating strategy, achieving impressive efficiencies of 14.79% and 12.01% with respect to active area of 18.73 cm² , which represent the best organic solar minimodules so far. It is revealed that the BMA strategy effectively resolves the de-wetting issues between polar charge transport layer solution and non-polar bulk heterojunction blends, hence improving the film coverage, along with electronic and electric contacts of multi-stacked photoactive layers. As result, organic solar modules coated under ambient conditions successfully retain the high-efficiency of small-area cells upon 312 times area scaling-up. Overall, this work provides a facile and effective method to fabricate high-performance organic solar modules under ambient conditions.

Scanning Deposition Method for Large-Area Diamond Film Synthesis Using Multiple Microwave Plasma Sources

The demand for synthetic diamonds and research on their use in next-generation semiconductor devices have recently increased. Microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) is considered one of the most promising techniques for the mass production of large-sized and high-quality single-, micro- and nanocrystalline diamond films. Although the low-pressure resonant cavity MPCVD method can synthesize high-quality diamonds, improvements are needed in terms of the resulting area. In this study, a large-area diamond synthesis method was developed by arranging several point plasma sources capable of processing a small area and scanning a wafer. A unit combination of three plasma sources afforded a diamond film thickness uniformity of ±6.25% at a wafer width of 70 mm with a power of 700 W for each plasma source. Even distribution of the diamond grains in a size range of 0.1–1 μm on the thin-film surface was verified using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. Therefore, the proposed novel diamond synthesis method can be theoretically expanded to achieve large-area films.

Large-Area MoS2 via Colloidal Nanosheet Ink for Integrated Memtransistor

2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit intriguing properties for applications in optoelectronics and electronics, among which memtransistors received extensive attention as multifunctional devices. For practical applications of 2D TMDs, large-area fabrication of the materials via reliable processes, which is in trade-off with their quality, has been a long-standing issue. Here, a simple and effective way is proposed to fabricate large-area and high-quality molybdenum disulfide thin films using MoS₂ colloidal ink through a spray coating, followed by a postsulfurization process. High-quality MoS₂ thin films exhibit excellent optical and electrical properties that can be utilized in field-effect transistors (FETs) and memtransistor arrays. The MoS₂ FETs show an average on/off ratio of 5 × 10⁶ and a high electron mobility of 10.34 cm²  V^-1  s^-1 , which can be understood by the healing of sulfur vacancies, recrystallization, and the removal of the carbon contamination of the MoS₂ . These MoS₂ -based memtransistors present stable operations with a high switching ratio tuned by back gate and light illumination, which is promising for multiple-levels memory and complex neuromorphic computing. This study demonstrates a new strategy to fabricate 2D TMDs with large-area and high quality for integrated optoelectronic and memory device applications.

Large-Area Fabrication of Structurally Colored and Humidity Sensitive Composite Nanofilm via Ultrasonic Spray-Coating

Intelligent structural colors have received extensive attention in recent years due to their diverse applications. However, the large-area, uniform, and cost-effective fabrication of ultra-thin structural color films is still challenging. Here, for the first time, we design and employ an ultrasonic spray-coating technique with non-toxic, green nano-silica and polyvinylpyrrolidone as raw materials, to prepare structural color films on silicon wafers. Due to the addition of polyvinylpyrrolidone, the coffee-ring effect during droplet drying is suppressed and uniform composite films are formed. We further perform a detailed study of the influence of various processing parameters including silica/polyvinylpyrrolidone concentration, substrate temperature, nozzle-to-substrate distance, and number of spray-passes on film roughness and thickness. By increasing the number of spray-passes from 10 to 30, the film thickness from 120 to 340 nm is modulated, resulting in different colors, and large-area and uniform colors on commercial round silicon wafers with 15 cm diameter are achieved. The silica/polyvinylpyrrolidone composite films show strong hydrophilicity and are sensitive to humidity changes, leading to quickly tunable and reversible structural colors. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation demonstrates water vapor adsorption and condensation on the nanofilm when increasing environmental humidity. Thereby, ultrasonic spray-coating as a novel film fabrication technique provides a feasible scheme for large-area preparation of intelligent structural colors.

Printing strategies for scaling-up perovskite solar cells

Photovoltaic technology offers a sustainable solution to the problem of soaring global energy demands. Recently, metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted worldwide interest because of their high power conversion efficiency of 25.5% and great potential in becoming a disruptive technology in the photovoltaic industry. The transition from research to commercialization requires advancements of scalable deposition methods for both perovskite and charge transporting thin films. Herein, we share our view regarding the current challenges to fabrication of PSCs by printing techniques. We focus particularly on ink technologies, and summarize the strategies for printing uniform, pinhole-free perovskite films with good crystallinity. Moreover, the stability of perovskite solar modules is discussed and analyzed. We believe this review will be advantageous in the area of printable electronic devices.

Extreme Orientational Uniformity in Large-Area Floating Films of Semiconducting Polymers for Their Application in Flexible Electronics

Layer-by-layer fabrication of uniformly oriented thin films over large areas by cost-effective solution-based approaches can open new horizons for the realization of high-performance organic circuits in various applications. In this work, fabrication of a large-area ≈40 cm² film with uniform orientation is reported for poly(3,3‴-dialkylquaterthiophene) (PQT) using a unidirectional floating film transfer method (UFTM). Orientation characteristics and charge transport anisotropy were analyzed using polarized UV-vis spectral mapping and fabrication of bottom-gated organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) from different regions. Films were found to be highly oriented with an optical dichroic ratio of ca. 15. Orientation characteristics reveal that films were highly oriented along the width of the film, covering >70% of the area, and angle-dependent field-effect mobilities are in good agreement with the orientation of the polymer backbones. These highly oriented films resulted in charge transport anisotropy of 8.9. An array of bottom-gated OFETs fabricated along the length of single large-area (≈15 × 2.5 cm²) thin film demonstrated the average field-effect mobility of 0.0262 cm²/(V s) with a very narrow standard deviation of 12.6%. We also demonstrated that film thickness can be easily tuned from 5.6 to 45 nm by increasing the PQT concentration, and field-effect mobility is highly reproducible even when the film thickness is 10 nm. Microstructural characterization of the thus-prepared large-area thin films revealed the edge-on stacked polymer backbones and surface roughness of <1 nm as probed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy, respectively. Flexible OFETs with bottom-gate top-contact geometry were also fabricated, having average field-effect mobility of 0.0181 cm²/(V s). There was no considerable change in mobility after bending the flexible devices at different radii.

Fabrication of Large-Area Molybdenum Disulfide Device Arrays Using Graphene/Ti Contacts

Two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is the most mature material in 2D material fields owing to its relatively high mobility and scalability. Such noticeable properties enable it to realize practical electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, contact engineering for large-area MoS₂ films has not yet been established, although contact property is directly associated to the device performance. Herein, we introduce graphene-interlayered Ti contacts (graphene/Ti) into large-area MoS₂ device arrays using a wet-transfer method. We achieve MoS₂ devices with superior electrical and photoelectrical properties using graphene/Ti contacts, with a field-effect mobility of 18.3 cm²/V∙s, on/off current ratio of 3 × 10⁷, responsivity of 850 A/W, and detectivity of 2 × 10¹² Jones. This outstanding performance is attributable to a reduction in the Schottky barrier height of the resultant devices, which arises from the decreased work function of graphene induced by the charge transfer from Ti. Our research offers a direction toward large-scale electronic and optoelectronic applications based on 2D materials.

Large-Area Biocompatible Random Laser for Wearable Applications

Recently, wearable sensor technology has drawn attention to many health-related appliances due to its varied existing optical, electrical, and mechanical applications. Similarly, we have designed a simple and cheap lift-off fabrication technique for the realization of large-area biocompatible random lasers to customize wearable sensors. A large-area random microcavity comprises a matrix element polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) in which rhodamine B (RhB, which acts as a gain medium) and gold nanorods (Au NRs, which offer plasmonic feedback) are incorporated via a spin-coating technique. In regards to the respective random lasing device residing on a heterogenous film (area > 100 cm2), upon optical excitation, coherent random lasing with a narrow linewidth (~0.4 nm) at a low threshold (~23 μJ/cm2 per pulse) was successfully attained. Here, we maneuvered the mechanical flexibility of the device to modify the spacing between the feedback agents (Au NRs), which tuned the average wavelength from 612.6 to 624 nm under bending while being a recoverable process. Moreover, the flexible film can potentially be used on human skin such as the finger to serve as a motion and relative-humidity sensor. This work demonstrates a designable and simple method to fabricate a large-area biocompatible random laser for wearable sensing.

Biologically-Inspired Water-Swelling-Driven Fabrication of Centimeter-Level Metallic Nanogaps

Metallic nanogaps have great values in plasmonics devices. However, large-area and low-cost fabrication of such nanogaps is still a huge obstacle, hindering their practical use. In this work, inspired by the cracking behavior of the tomato skin, a water-swelling-driven fabrication method is developed. An Au thinfilm is deposited on a super absorbent polymer (SAP) layer. Once the SAP layer absorbs water and swells, gaps will be created on the surface of the Au thinfilm at a centimeter-scale. Further experimentation indicates that such Au gaps can enhance the Raman scattering signal. In principle, the water-swelling-driven fabrication route can also create gaps on other metallic film and even nonmetallic film in a low-cost way.

Low-Temperature Graphene-Based Paste for Large-Area Carbon Perovskite Solar Cells

Carbon perovskite solar cells (C-PSCs), using carbon-based counter electrodes (C-CEs), promise to mitigate instability issues while providing solution-processed and low-cost device configurations. In this work, we report the fabrication and characterization of efficient paintable C-PSCs obtained by depositing a low-temperature-processed graphene-based carbon paste atop prototypical mesoscopic and planar n-i-p structures. Small-area (0.09 cm²) mesoscopic C-PSCs reach a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.81% while showing an improved thermal stability under the ISOS-D-2 protocol compared to the reference devices based on Au CEs. The proposed graphene-based C-CEs are applied to large-area (1 cm²) mesoscopic devices and low-temperature-processed planar n-i-p devices, reaching PCEs of 13.85 and 14.06%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, these PCE values are among the highest reported for large-area C-PSCs in the absence of back-contact metallization or additional stacked conductive components or a thermally evaporated barrier layer between the charge-transporting layer and the C-CE (strategies commonly used for the record-high efficiency C-PSCs). In addition, we report a proof-of-concept of metallized miniwafer-like area C-PSCs (substrate area = 6.76 cm², aperture area = 4.00 cm²), reaching a PCE on active area of 13.86% and a record-high PCE on aperture area of 12.10%, proving the metallization compatibility with our C-PSCs. Monolithic wafer-like area C-PSCs can be feasible all-solution-processed configurations, more reliable than prototypical perovskite solar (mini)modules based on the serial connection of subcells, since they mitigate hysteresis-induced performance losses and hot-spot-induced irreversible material damage caused by reverse biases.

Large-Area Oxidized Phosphorene Nanoflakes Obtained by Electrospray for Energy-Harvesting Applications

Bidimensional (2D) materials are nowadays being developed as outstanding candidates for electronic and optoelectronic components and devices. Targeted applications include sensing, energy conversion, and storage. Phosphorene is one of the most promising systems in this context, but its high reactivity under atmospheric conditions and its small-area/lab-scale deposition techniques have hampered the introduction of this material in real-world applications so far. However, phosphorene oxides in the form of low-dimensional structures (2D PO _x ) should behave as an electroresponsive material according to recent theoretical studies. In the present work, we introduce electrospraying for the deposition of stoichiometric and large-area 2D PO _x nanoflakes starting from a suspension of liquid-phase-exfoliated phosphorene. We obtained 2D PO _x nanostructures with a mean surface area two orders of magnitude larger than phosphorene structures obtained with standard mechanical and liquid exfoliation techniques. X-ray spectroscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy confirmed the P₂O₅-like crystallographic structure of the electrosprayed flakes. Finally, we experimentally demonstrated for the first time the electromechanical responsivity of the 2D P₂O₅ nanoflakes, through piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). This work sheds light on the possible implementation of phosphorus oxide-based 2D nanomaterials in the value chain of fabrication and engineering of devices, which might be easily scaled up for energy-harvesting/conversion applications.

High-Crystalline Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Films for Wafer-Scale Electronics

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using liquid-phase precursors has emerged as a viable technique for synthesizing uniform large-area transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) thin films. However, the liquid-phase precursor-assisted growth process typically suffers from small-sized grains and unreacted transition metal precursor remainders, resulting in lower-quality TMDs. Moreover, synthesizing large-area TMD films with a monolayer thickness is also quite challenging. Herein, we successfully synthesized high-quality large-area monolayer molybdenum diselenide (MoSe₂) with good uniformity via promoter-assisted liquid-phase CVD process using the transition metal-containing precursor homogeneously modified with an alkali metal halide. The formation of a reactive transition metal oxyhalide and reduction of the energy barrier of chalcogenization by the alkali metal promoted the growth rate of the TMDs along the in-plane direction, enabling the full coverage of the monolayer MoSe₂ film with negligible few-layer regions. Note that the fully selenized monolayer MoSe₂ with high crystallinity exhibited superior electrical transport characteristics compared with those reported in previous works using liquid-phase precursors. We further synthesized various other monolayer TMD films, including molybdenum disulfide, tungsten disulfide, and tungsten diselenide, to demonstrate the broad applicability of the proposed approach.

Evaporated Perovskite Thick Junctions for X-Ray Detection

X-ray detection is widely utilized in our daily life, such as in medical diagnosis, security checking, and environmental monitoring. However, most of the commercial X-ray detectors are based on inorganic semiconductors, e.g., Si, CdTe, and Ge, which require complex and costly fabrication processes. Metal halide perovskites have recently emerged as a set of promising candidates for ionizing radiation detection, owing to the high attenuation coefficient, long carrier lifetime, and excellent charge transport properties. Perovskite single crystals have been successfully implemented in X-ray detection, but the fragile single crystals limit the device fabrication and the integration with a read-out circuit. In addition, it is hard to reach inch-size single crystals for real application. Flexible devices based on perovskite films or composite films have also been reported, but either the thickness or charge transport properties are limited by the solution processes. In this work, we introduced thermal co-evaporation to deposit highly efficient formamidinium lead iodide perovskite films. Considering the trade-off between X-ray absorption and charge transport, we optimized the active layer thickness and achieved large-area and flexible X-ray detectors with state-of-the-art device performance, including extremely low dark current and noise, fast response, and high sensitivity of 142.1 μC Gy_air^-1 cm^-2.

Sputtered Ga-Doped SnOx Electron Transport Layer for Large-Area All-Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells

The scalability processing of all functional layers in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is one of the critical challenges in the commercialization of perovskite photovoltaic technology. In response to this issue, a large-area and high-quality gallium-doped tin oxide (Ga-SnO_x) thin film is deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering and applied in CsPbBr₃ all-inorganic PSCs as an electron transport layer (ETL). It is found that oxygen defects of SnO_x can be remarkably offset by regulating oxygen flux and acceptor-like Ga doping level, resulting in higher carrier mobility and suitable energy level alignment, which is beneficial in accelerating electron extraction and suppressing charge recombination at the perovskite/ETL interface. At the optimal O₂ flux (12 sccm) and Ga doping level (5%), the device based on sputtered Ga-SnO_x ETL without any interface modification shows a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.13%, which is significantly higher than that of undoped SnO_x prepared by sputtering or spin coating. Furthermore, a PCE of 5.98% for a device with an active area of 1 cm² is obtained, demonstrating great potential in fabricating efficient and stable large-area PSCs.

Large-Area Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cell Modules Fabricated by a Temperature-Independent Printing Method

Despite recent breakthroughs in the fabrication of spin-coated small-area devices (≤0.1 cm²) with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of more than 17%, printed large-area organic solar cells (OSCs) are significantly less efficient because of the intrinsic differences between the coating dynamics of the two types of OSCs. The PCEs of printed large-area (∼100 cm²) OSCs have typically been decreased compared with those of small-area spin-coated devices. In this work, an efficient low-temperature printing method to fabricate high-efficiency large-area nonfullerene-based OSC modules is successfully demonstrated. A systematic study of the relationship between the concentration of the photoactive solution and the resulting film properties reveals that the large-area modules (85 cm²) produced in this work deliver excellent performance, yielding PCEs of up to 8.18% with a geometric fill factor of 85%. These novel OSC modules are ∼87% as efficient as small-area printed single cells (cell PCE ∼9.43% with 1 cm²).

Controlling the Morphology and Interface of the Perovskite Layer for Scalable High-Efficiency Solar Cells Fabricated Using Green Solvents and Blade Coating in an Ambient Environment

Low-cost and solution-processed perovskite solar cells have shown great potential for scaling-up mass production. In comparison with the spin coating process for fabricating devices with small areas, the blade coating process is a facile technique for preparing uniform films with large areas. High-efficiency perovskite solar cells have been reported using blade coating, but they were fabricated using the toxic solvent N,N-dimethylformide (DMF) in nitrogen. In this work, we present highly efficient blade-coated perovskite solar cells prepared using a green solvent mixture of γ-butyrolactone (GBL) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in an ambient environment. By carefully controlling the interface, morphology, and crystallinity of perovskite films through composition variations and additives, a high power conversion efficiency of 17.02% is achieved in air with 42.4% reduction of standard deviation in performance. The findings in this work resolve the issues of scalability and solvent toxicity; thus, the mass production of perovskite solar cells becomes feasible.

Green Solution-Bathing Process for Efficient Large-Area Planar Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) toward practical application relies on high efficiency, long lifetime, low toxicity, and device up-scaling. To realize large-area PSCs, a green solution-bathing strategy is delivered to prepare high-performance PSCs. By utilizing 2-pentanol as a green solvent and formamidinium chloride (FACl) as a solute in the green solution-bathing process, perovskite films with enlarged grain sizes, improved crystallinity, and alleviated defect state density were obtained, resulting in the enhancement in the power conversion efficiency of PSCs. Coupled with 2-pentanol and FACl, both a champion efficiency of 21.03% for small cells (0.103 cm²) and an efficiency of over 18% for large size (1.00 cm²) were obtained based on the GSB process, which can outperform its counterpart made via the commonly used antisolvent-dropping method. In addition, a large perovskite film (5 cm × 5 cm) with obvious mirror effect was successfully prepared. Our innovative approach paves the way to promote device up-scaling of PSCs via an environmentally friendly technique.

Large-Area and Water Rewriteable Photonic Crystal Films Obtained by the Thermal Assisted Air-Liquid Interface Self Assembly

Compared with traditional paper, water rewritable photonic crystal (PC) paper is an environmentally friendly and low resource-consuming material for information storage. Although, recently reported PC papers have high-quality structure color showing promising prospect, the paper size, that is within several centimeters, still limits turning it from potential to reality. Here, we present a new water rewritable PC film as large as the A4 size (210 × 300 mm²) with a high-quality structure color. The material is prepared by thermal assisted self-assembly on the air-liquid interface. To fix such a large-area self-assembled PC film, we partially deform and coalesce the self-assembled nanoparticles, which have low glass transition temperature. This process causes the film to be transparent and structural colorless but still keeps the inner 3D-ordered structure. Then, utilizing the hydrophilic nature of the assembled block, the film can be switched to a structural color state by touching water. Diverse brilliant structural colors appear with different assembled particle (poly(butyl methacrylate- co-methylmethacrylate- co-butyl acrylate- co-diacetone acrylamide) named as PBMBD) sizes. The transparency-structural color transition can be performed multiple times reversibly in all or specific regions of the film. It provides a new solution for future applications of rewriteable PC paper.

Preparation of Flexible Substrate Electrode for Supercapacitor With High-Performance MnO2 Stalagmite Nanorod Arrays

A large-area MnO₂ stalagmite nanorod arrays (SNAs) growing vertically on flexible substrates were successfully fabricated by an easy heat-electrodeposition method. The large specific capacitance (646.4 F g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹) and excellent rate capability (42.3% retention with 40 times of increase) indicate that the prepared MnO₂ SNAs flexible electrode has outstanding electrochemical performance. Furthermore, after 5,000 repetitions of CV tests, the overall specific capacitance could retain ~101.2% compared with the initial value meant a long cycling life. These outstanding properties could be ascribed to the effective conductive transport path between Ni substrate and MnO₂ nanorods, and owing to the stalagmite like structure of MnO₂ nanorods, the exposed sufficient active sites are beneficial to the electrolyte infiltration.

Facile and Controllable Synthesis of Large-Area Monolayer WS₂ Flakes Based on WO₃ Precursor Drop-Casted Substrates by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Monolayer WS₂ (Tungsten Disulfide) with a direct-energy gap and excellent photoluminescence quantum yield at room temperature shows potential applications in optoelectronics. However, controllable synthesis of large-area monolayer WS₂ is still challenging because of the difficulty in controlling the interrelated growth parameters. Herein, we report a facile and controllable method for synthesis of large-area monolayer WS₂ flakes by direct sulfurization of powdered WO₃ (Tungsten Trioxide) drop-casted on SiO₂/Si substrates in a one-end sealed quartz tube. The samples were thoroughly characterized by an optical microscope, atomic force microscope, transmission electron microscope, fluorescence microscope, photoluminescence spectrometer, and Raman spectrometer. The obtained results indicate that large triangular monolayer WS₂ flakes with an edge length up to 250 to 370 μm and homogeneous crystallinity were readily synthesized within 5 min of growth. We demonstrate that the as-grown monolayer WS₂ flakes show distinctly size-dependent fluorescence emission, which is mainly attributed to the heterogeneous release of intrinsic tensile strain after growth.

Single-Solution Bar-Coated Halide Perovskite Films via Mediating Crystallization for Scalable Solar Cell Fabrication

The development of a scalable fabrication technology for halide perovskite solar cells (HPSCs) is an important challenge to realize their commercialization. In particular, continuous solution-coating processes are needed to produce scalable large-area HPSCs. Herein, we report a single-solution bar-coating process that introduces an intermediate phase stage for large-area CH₃NH₃PbI₃ films with full coverage and smooth morphology using N-cyclohexyl-2-pyrrolidone (CHP) as a mediator. In contrast to the conventional double-solution coating methods that use antisolvent treatments, the preformed uniform intermediate phase in the single-solution bar-coating process enables the formation of highly uniform perovskite films with a 10 cm × 10 cm area even without antisolvent treatment. The HPSCs fabricated using the resultant single-solution bar-coated perovskite films exhibit superior photovoltaic performance, narrower distribution, and smaller loss with a larger active area than devices fabricated using single-solution spin-coated perovskite films.

Highly Reproducible Large-Area Perovskite Solar Cell Fabrication via Continuous Megasonic Spray Coating of CH3 NH3 PbI3

A simple, low-cost, large area, and continuous scalable coating method is proposed for the fabrication of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells. A megasonic spray-coating method utilizing a 1.7 MHz megasonic nebulizer that could fabricate reproducible large-area planar efficient perovskite films is developed. The coating method fabricates uniform large-area perovskite film with large-sized grain since smaller and narrower sized mist droplets than those generated by existing ultrasonic spray methods could be generated by megasonic spraying. The volume flow rate of the CH₃ NH₃ PbI₃ precursor solution and the reaction temperature are controlled, to obtain a high quality perovskite active layer. The devices reach a maximum efficiency of 16.9%, with an average efficiency of 16.4% from 21 samples. The applicability of megasonic spray coating to the fabrication of large-area solar cells (1 cm² ), with a power conversion efficiency of 14.2%, is also demonstrated. This is a record high efficiency for large-area perovskite solar cells fabricated by continuous spray coating.

Perovskite/Poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine] Bulk Heterojunction for High-Efficient Carbon-Based Large-Area Solar Cells by Gradient Engineering

The performance of low-temperature carbon-based perovskite solar cells (C-PSCs) with high commercial potential was hampered by the inferior interface between the absorber and carbon electrode. In this work, poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine] (PTAA) was dissolved in an antisolvent for spin-coating perovskite (CH₃NH₃PbI₃, MAPI) films, which was applied to modify both the MAPI films and the interface between the MAPI layer and carbon electrode by gradient engineering. Finally, the C-PSCs based on MAPI-PTAA gradient bulk heterojunction films achieved a power conversion efficiency of 13.0% with an active area of 1 cm², 26% higher than that of pristine MAPI cells, because of the passivated trap states, accelerated hole extraction, and improved crystalline properties in absorber films.

Scalable Ultrasonic Spray-Processing Technique for Manufacturing Large-Area CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells are on the brink of a breakthrough in photovoltaic technology. Scale-up and large-area processing have become the focal points that must be resolved before commercialization. In this study, the scalable ultrasonic spray deposition method for high-throughput coating of the perovskite photoactive layer with a large active area of up to 3 cm² is implemented by precisely controlling the concentration of the precursor solution and spray passes. CH₃NH₃PbI₃ films with large crystallites and a suitable thickness of ∼350 nm are facilely developed through one-step direct ultrasonic spraying. Less hysteresis and highly reproducible power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of up to 12.30% (11.43 ± 0.43% on average for 20 devices) are achieved by an optimized single-junction device with an active area of 1 cm², along with good ambient stability. The device retained ∼80 and ∼65% of the initial PCE after 60 and 105 days in ambient, respectively. The ultrasonic spray-coated perovskite solar cells can be further scaled to larger areas of 2 and 3 cm² and exhibit PCEs of 10.18 and 7.01%, respectively. The reliable scale-up process for manufacturing the atmospheric wet-coated perovskite film is available in cost-effective and easily operated bench-top variants to bridge the interconnection between applied research and industry.

Improving Charge Injection via a Blade-Coating Molybdenum Oxide Layer: Toward High-Performance Large-Area Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Diodes

A solution-processed molybdenum oxide (MoO _x) as the hole injection layer (HIL) by doctor-blade coating was developed to improve the efficiency and lifetime of red-emitting quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs). It has been demonstrated that by adding isopropyl alcohol into the MoO _x precursor during the doctor-blade coating process, the morphology, composition, and the surface electronic structure of the MoO _x HIL could be tailored. A high-quality MoO _x film with optimized charge injection was obtained, based on which all-solution-processed highly efficient red-emitting QD-LEDs were realized by using a low-cost doctor-blade coating technique under ambient conditions. The red QD-LEDs exhibited the maximum current efficiency and external quantum efficiency of 16 cd/A and 15.1%, respectively. Moreover, the lifetime of red devices initializing at 100 cd/m² was 3236 h under ambient conditions, which is about twice as long as those with a conventional poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) HIL. Large-area QD-LEDs with 4 in. emitting areas were fabricated with blade coating as well, which exhibit a high efficiency of 12.1 cd/A for red emissions. Our work paves a new way to the realization of efficient large-area QD-LEDs, and the processing and findings from this work can be expanded into next-generation lighting and flat-panel displays.

Large-Area All-Textile Pressure Sensors for Monitoring Human Motion and Physiological Signals

Wearable pressure sensors, which can perceive and respond to environmental stimuli, are essential components of smart textiles. Here, large-area all-textile-based pressure-sensor arrays are successfully realized on common fabric substrates. The textile sensor unit achieves high sensitivity (14.4 kPa^-1 ), low detection limit (2 Pa), fast response (≈24 ms), low power consumption (<6 µW), and mechanical stability under harsh deformations. Thanks to these merits, the textile sensor is demonstrated to be able to recognize finger movement, hand gestures, acoustic vibrations, and real-time pulse wave. Furthermore, large-area sensor arrays are successfully fabricated on one textile substrate to spatially map tactile stimuli and can be directly incorporated into a fabric garment for stylish designs without sacrifice of comfort, suggesting great potential in smart textiles or wearable electronics.

Large-Area Fabrication of Droplet Pancake Bouncing Surface and Control of Bouncing State

Superhydrophobic pillar arrays, which can generate the droplet pancake bouncing phenomenon with reduced liquid-solid contact time, have huge application prospects in anti-icing of aircraft wings from freezing rain. However, the previously reported pillar arrays, suitable for obtaining pancake bouncing, have a diameter ≤100 μm and height-diameter ratio >10, which are difficult to fabricate over a large area. Here, we have systematically studied the influence of the dimension of the superhydrophobic pillar arrays on the bouncing dynamics of water droplets. We show that the typical pancake bouncing with 57.8% reduction in contact time with the surface was observed on the superhydrophobic pillar arrays with 1.05 mm diameter, 0.8 mm height, and 0.25 mm space. Such pillar arrays with millimeter diameter and <1 height-diameter ratio can be easily fabricated over large areas. Further, a simple replication-spraying method was developed for the large-area fabrication of the superhydrophobic pillar arrays to induce pancake bouncing. No sacrificial layer was needed to reduce the adhesion in the replication processes. Since the bouncing dynamics were rather sensitive to the space between the pillars, a method to control the contact time, bouncing shape, horizontal bouncing direction, and reversible switch between pancake bouncing and conventional bouncing was realized by adjusting the inclination angle of the shape memory polymer pillars.

Large-Area and High-Throughput PDMS Microfluidic Chip Fabrication Assisted by Vacuum Airbag Laminator

One of the key fabrication steps of large-area microfluidic devices is the flexible-to-hard sheet alignment and pre-bonding. In this work, the vacuum airbag laminator (VAL) which is commonly used for liquid crystal display (LCD) production has been applied for large-area microfluidic device fabrication. A straightforward, efficient, and low-cost method has been achieved for 400 × 500 mm² microfluidic device fabrication. VAL provides the advantages of precise alignment and lamination without bubbles. Thermal treatment has been applied to achieve strong PDMS⁻glass and PDMS⁻PDMS bonding with maximum breakup pressure of 739 kPa, which is comparable to interference-assisted thermal bonding method. The fabricated 152 × 152 mm² microfluidic chip has been successfully applied for droplet generation and splitting.

Large-Area Buckled MoS2 Films on the Graphene Substrate

In this study, a novel buckled structure of edge-oriented MoS2 films is fabricated for the first time by employing monolayer graphene as the substrate for MoS2 film growth. Compared to typical buckling methods, our technique has several advantages: (1) external forces such as heat and mechanical strain are not applied; (2) uniform and controllable buckling over a large area is possible; and (3) films are able to be transferred to a desired substrate. Dual MoS2 orientation was observed in the buckled film where horizontally aligned MoS2 layers of 7 nm thickness were present near the bottom graphene surface and vertically aligned layers dominated the film toward the outer surface, in which the alignment structure was uniform across the entire film. The catalytic ability of the buckled MoS2 films, measured by performing water-splitting tests in acidic environments, shows a reduced onset potential of -0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) compared to -0.32 V versus RHE for pristine MoS2, indicating that the rough surface provided a higher catalytic activity. Our work presents a new method to generate a buckled MoS2 structure, which may be extended to the formation of buckled structures in various 2D materials for future applications.

Spray-Deposited Large-Area Copper Nanowire Transparent Conductive Electrodes and Their Uses for Touch Screen Applications

Large-area conducting transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) were prepared by a fast, scalable, and low-cost spray deposition of copper nanowire (CuNW) dispersions. Thin, long, and pure copper nanowires were obtained via the seed-mediated growth in an organic solvent-based synthesis. The mean length and diameter of nanowires are, respectively, 37.7 μm and 46 nm, corresponding to a high-mean-aspect ratio of 790. These wires were spray-deposited onto a glass substrate to form a nanowire conducting network which function as a TCE. CuNW TCEs exhibit high-transparency and high-conductivity since their relatively long lengths are advantageous in lowering in the sheet resistance. For example, a 2 × 2 cm(2) transparent nanowire electrode exhibits transmittance of T = 90% with a sheet resistance as low as 52.7 Ω sq(-1). Large-area sizes (>50 cm(2)) of CuNW TCEs were also prepared by the spray coating method and assembled as resistive touch screens that can be integrated with a variety of devices, including LED lighting array, a computer, electric motors, and audio electronic devices, showing the capability to make diverse sizes and functionalities of CuNW TCEs by the reported method.

Nonlinear optical microscopy for immunoimaging: a custom optimized system of high-speed, large-area, multicolor imaging

BACKGROUND

The nonlinear optical microscopy has become the current state-of-the-art for intravital imaging. Due to its advantages of high resolution, superior tissue penetration, lower photodamage and photobleaching, as well as intrinsic z-sectioning ability, this technology has been widely applied in immunoimaging for a decade. However, in terms of monitoring immune events in native physiological environment, the conventional nonlinear optical microscope system has to be optimized for live animal imaging. Generally speaking, three crucial capabilities are desired, including high-speed, large-area and multicolor imaging. Among numerous high-speed scanning mechanisms used in nonlinear optical imaging, polygon scanning is not only linearly but also dispersion-freely with high stability and tunable rotation speed, which can overcome disadvantages of multifocal scanning, resonant scanner and acousto-optical deflector (AOD). However, low frame rate, lacking large-area or multicolor imaging ability make current polygonbased nonlinear optical microscopes unable to meet the requirements of immune event monitoring.

METHODS

We built up a polygon-based nonlinear optical microscope system which was custom optimized for immunoimaging with high-speed, large-are and multicolor imaging abilities.

RESULTS

Firstly, we validated the imaging performance of the system by standard methods. Then, to demonstrate the ability to monitor immune events, migration of immunocytes observed by the system based on typical immunological models such as lymph node, footpad and dorsal skinfold chamber are shown. Finally, we take an outlook for the possible advance of related technologies such as sample stabilization and optical clearing for more stable and deeper intravital immunoimaging.

CONCLUSIONS

This study will be helpful for optimizing nonlinear optical microscope to obtain more comprehensive and accurate information of immune events.

Large-area one-step assembly of three-dimensional porous metal micro/nanocages by ethanol-assisted femtosecond laser irradiation for enhanced antireflection and hydrophobicity

The capability to realize 2D-3D controllable metallic micro/nanostructures is of key importance for various fields such as plasmonics, electronics, bioscience, and chemistry due to unique properties such as electromagnetic field enhancement, catalysis, photoemission, and conductivity. However, most of the present techniques are limited to low-dimension (1D-2D), small area, or single function. Here we report the assembly of self-organized three-dimensional (3D) porous metal micro/nanocages arrays on nickel surface by ethanol-assisted femtosecond laser irradiation. The underlying formation mechanism was investigated by a series of femtosecond laser irradiation under exposure time from 5 to 30 ms. We also demonstrate the ability to control the size of micro/nanocage arrays from 0.8 to 2 μm by different laser pulse energy. This method features rapidness (∼10 min), simplicity (one-step process), and ease of large-area (4 cm(2) or more) fabrication. The 3D cagelike micro/nanostructures exhibit not only improved antireflection from 80% to 7% but also enhanced hydrophobicity from 98.5° to 142° without surface modification. This simple technique for 3D large-area controllable metal microstructures will find great potential applications in optoelectronics, physics, and chemistry.