Studies of Characterization of Microstructures for Low Dimensional Materials

The characterization of microstructure for three kinds of typical low dimensional materials,such as ultrafine particle(zero- dimension),whisker(one- dimension)and thin film(two-dimensions),has been carried out.The methods and criteria for the characterization are investigated and introduced.Some interesting results of the characterization are reported.

Low‐dimensional material supported single‐atom catalysts for electrochemical CO_(2) reduction

Converting CO_(2) emissions to valuable carbonaceous chemicals/fuels under mild conditions provides a sustainable way to maintain carbon balance and alleviate the energy shortage.Low‐dimensional material(LDM)supported single‐atom catalysts(SACs)have been attracted significant attention for electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(ECR)in recent years.This is mainly because integrating the single‐atoms and LDMs can inherit the advantages of themselves and the synergy effects between them are potential to enhance the ECR performance.In this review,we summarized the strategies for synthesizing LDM supported SACs for ECR,and different LDM supported SACs for ECR have been briefly introduced.Moreover,some optimization strategies for LDM supported SACs towards CO_(2) electroreduction are highlighted.At the end of this review,the perspectives and challenges of LDM supported SACs for ECR are provided.

The roles of black phosphorus in performance enhancement of halide perovskite solar cells

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells(PSCs) are considered to be the most promising thirdgeneration photovoltaic(PV) technology with the most rapid rate of increase in the power conversion efficiency(PCE). To date, their PCE values are comparable to the established photovoltaic technologies such as crystalline silicon. Intensive research activities associated with PSCs have been being performed,since 2009, aiming to further boost the device performance in terms of efficiency and stability via different strategies in order to accelerate the progress of commercialization. The emerging 2 D black phosphorus(BP) is a novel class of semiconducting material owing to its unique characteristics, allowing them to become attractive materials for applications in a variety of optical and electronic devices, which have been comprehensively reviewed in the literature. However, comprehensive reviews focusing on the application of BP in PSCs are scarce in the community. This review discusses the research works with the incorporation of BP as a functional material in PSCs. The methodology as well as the effects of employing BP in different regions of PSCs are summarized. Further challenges and potential research directions are also highlighted.

All-optical inverter based on carbon nanotube-polyvinyl alcohol thin film

All-optical light control plays an important role in optical signal processing and communications.In this Letter,we demonstrate an all-optical inverter using carbon nanotube(CNT)-polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)thin film and obtain a long-time stable output due to the environmental insensitivity of the device.The thermo-optic effect in the CNT-PVA thin film generates a thermal lens and modifies the beam propagation in the thin film.The obtained all-optical inverter has a front(trailing)time constant of∼55μs(44μs)for 1550 nm signal pulses and∼7 kHz response bandwidth.