Formation of NiFe_2O_4/Expanded Graphite Nanocomposites with Superior Lithium Storage Properties

A Ni Fe_2O_4/expanded graphite(Ni Fe_2O_4/EG)nanocomposite was prepared via a simple and inexpensive synthesis method. Its lithium storage properties were studied with the goal of applying it as an anode in a lithium-ion battery. The obtained nanocomposite exhibited a good cycle performance, with a capacity of 601 m Ah g^(-1)at a current of 1 A g^(-1)after 800 cycles. This good performance may beattributed to the enhanced electrical conductivity and layered structure of the EG. Its high mechanical strength could postpone the disintegration of the nanocomposite structure,efficiently accommodate volume changes in the Ni Fe_2O_4-based anodes, and alleviate aggregation of Ni Fe_2O_4 nanoparticles.

Black phosphorus-based field effect transistor devices for Ag ions detection

Black phosphorus （BP）, an attractive two-dimensional （2D） semiconductor, is widely used in the fields of optoelec- tronic devices, biomedicine, and chemical sensing. Silver ion （Ag＋）, a commonly used additive in food industry, can sterilize and keep food fresh. But excessive intake of Ag＋ will harm human health. Therefore, high sensitive, fast and simple Ag＋ detection method is significant. Here, a high-performance BP field effect transistor （FET） sensor is fabricated for Ag＋ detection with high sensitivity, rapid detection speed, and wide detection concentration range. The detection limit for Ag＋ is 10 l0 mol/L. Testing time for each sample by this method is 60 s. Besides, the mechanism of BP-FET sensor for Ag＋ detection is investigated systematically. The simple BP-FET sensor may inspire some relevant research and potential applications, such as providing an effective method for the actual detection of Ag＋, especially in wimessed inspections field of food.

Two‑Dimensional Black Phosphorus Nanomaterials:Emerging Advances in Electrochemical Energy Storage Science

Two-dimensional black phosphorus(2D BP),well known as phosphorene,has triggered tremendous attention since the first discovery in 2014.The unique puckered monolayer structure endows 2D BP intriguing properties,which facilitate its potential applications in various fields,such as catalyst,energy storage,sensor,etc.Owing to the large surface area,good electric conductivity,and high theoretical specific capacity,2D BP has been widely studied as electrode materials and significantly enhanced the performance of energy storage devices.With the rapid development of energy storage devices based on 2D BP,a timely review on this topic is in demand to further extend the application of 2D BP in energy storage.In this review,recent advances in experimental and theoretical development of 2D BP are presented along with its structures,properties,and synthetic methods.Particularly,their emerging applications in electrochemical energy storage,including Li−/K−/Mg−/Na-ion,Li–S batteries,and supercapacitors,are systematically summarized with milestones as well as the challenges.Benefited from the fast-growing dynamic investigation of 2D BP,some possible improvements and constructive perspectives are provided to guide the design of 2D BP-based energy storage devices with high performance.

Switching of K-Q intervalley trions fine structure and their dynamics in n-doped monolayer WS_(2)

Monolayer group VI transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs)have recently emerged as promising candidates for photonic and opto-valleytronic applications.The optoelectronic properties of these atomically-thin semiconducting crystals are strongly governed by the tightly bound electron-hole pairs such as excitons and trions(charged excitons).The anomalous spin and valley configurations at the conduction band edges in monolayer WS_(2)give rise to even more fascinating valley many-body complexes.Here we find that the indirect Q valley in the first Brillouin zone of monolayer WS_(2)plays a critical role in the formation of a new excitonic state,which has not been well studied.By employing a high-quality h-BN encapsulated WS_(2)field-effect transistor,we are able to switch the electron concentration within K-Q valleys at conduction band edges.Consequently,a distinct emission feature could be excited at the high electron doping region.Such feature has a competing population with the K valley trion,and experiences nonlinear power-law response and lifetime dynamics under doping.Our findings open up a new avenue for the study of valley many-body physics and quantum optics in semiconducting 2D materials,as well as provide a promising way of valley manipulation for next-generation entangled photonic devices.

Significantly enhanced of tungsten diselenide functionalization optoelectronic performance phototransistor via surface

Two-dimensional （2D） layered transition metal dichalcogenides （TMDs） have attracted enormous research interests and efforts towards the development of versatile electronic and optical devices, owing to their extraordinary and unique fundamental properties and remarkable prospects in nanoelectronic applications. Among the TMDs, tungsten diselenide （WSe2） exhibits tunable ambipolar transport characteristics and superior optical properties such as high quantum efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate significant enhancement in the device performance of WSe2 phototransistor by in situ surface functionalization with cesium carbonate （Cs2CO3）. WSe2 was found to be strongly doped with electrons after Cs2CO3 modification. The electron mobility of WSe2 increased by almost one order of magnitude after surface functionalization with 1.6-nm-thick Cs2CO3 decoration. Furthermore, the photocurrent of the WSe2-based phototransistor increased by nearly three orders of magnitude with the deposition of 1.6-nm-thick Cs2CO3. Characterizations by in situ photoelectron spectroscopy techniques confirmed the significant surface charge transfer occurring at the Cs2COB/WSe2 interface. Our findings coupled with the tunable nature of the surface transfer doping method establish WSe2 as a promising candidate for future 2D materials- based optoelectronic devices.

Narrow-bandgap materials for optoelectronics applications

Narrow-bandgap materials possess the intriguing optical-electric properties and unique structures,which can be widely applied in the field of photonics,energy optoelectronic sensing and biomedicine,etc.Nowadays,the researches on nonlinear optical properties of narrow-bandgap materials have attracted extensive attention worldwide.In this paper,we review the progress of narrow-bandgap materials from many aspects,such as background,nonlinear optical properties,energy band structure,methods of preparation,and applications.These materials have obvious nonlinear optical characteristics and the interaction with the short pulse laser excitation shows the extremely strong nonlinear absorption characteristics,which leads to the optical limiting or saturable absorption related to Pauli blocking and excited state absorption.Especially,some of these novel narrow-bandgap materials have been utilized for the generation of ultrashort pulse that covers the range from the visible to mid-infrared wavelength regions.Hence,the study on these materials paves a new way for the advancement of optoelctronics devices.

Giant Goos–Hnchen shifts of waveguide coupled long-range surface plasmon resonance mode

A hybrid structure based on a planar waveguide （PWG） mode coupling a long-range surface plasmon resonance （LRSPR） mode is proposed to enhance the GH shift. Both the PWG mode and LRSPR mode can be in strong resonance, and these two modes can be coupled together due to the normal-mode splitting. The largest GH shift of PWG-coupled LRSPR structure is 4156 times that of the incident beam, which is 23 times and 3.6 times that of the surface plasmon resonance （SPR） structure and the LRSPR structure, respectively. As a GH shift sensor, the highest sensitivity of 4.68 x 107 λ is realized in the coupled structure. Compared with the sensitivity of the traditional SPR structure, the sensitivity of our structure is increased by more than 2 orders, which theoretically indicates that the proposed configuration can be applied to the field of high-sensitivity sensors in the future.

Spectral polarization-encoding of broadband laser pulses by optical rotatory dispersion and its applications in spectral manipulation

We propose a kind of spectral polarization-encoding(SPE)for broadband light pulses,which is realized by inducing optical rotatory dispersion(ORD),and decoded by compensating ORD.Combining with polarization-sensitive devices,SPE can not only work to control polarization-dependent transmission for central wavelength or bandwidth-tunable filtering,but also can be used for broadband regenerative or multi-pass amplification with a polarization-dependent gain medium to improve output bandwidth.SPE is entirely passive thus very simple to be designed and aligned.By using an ORD crystal with a good transmission beyond 3-μm mid-infrared region,e.g.,Ag Ga S_(2),SPE promises to be applied for the wavelength tuning lasers in mid-infrared region,where the tunning devices are rather under developed compared with those in visible and near-infrared region.

Broadband Pulsed Fiber Laser Generation with Topological Insulator: Towards the Mid-Infrared Regime

In recent years, topological insulators have aroused the attention of a great number of scientists due to their unique electronic structures and peculiar physical properties. Triggered by the similar electronic structures as graphene, the broadband nonlinear absorption properties of topological insulator were investigated. Moreover, the mode-locked or Q-switched fiber lasers based on topological insulator were realized for broadband operating wavelength. Here, we present an overview of the preparation, transferring, linear and nonlinear optical properties and their applications of topological insulators in pulsed fiber lasers. The pulsed fiber lasers towards mid- infrared regimes have been proposed.

Structural plasticity-based hydrogel optical Willshaw model for one-shot on-the-fly edge learning

Autonomous one-shot on-the-fly learning copes with the high privacy,small dataset,and in-stream data at the edge.Implementing such learning on digital hardware suffers from the well-known von-Neumann and scaling bottlenecks.The optical neural networks featuring large parallelism,low latency,and high efficiency offer a promising solution.However,ex-situ training of conventional optical networks,where optical path configuration and deep learning model optimization are separated,incurs hardware,energy and time overheads,and defeats the advantages in edge learning.Here,we introduced a bio-inspired material-algorithm co-design to construct a hydrogel-based optical Willshaw model(HOWM),manifesting Hebbian-rule-based structural plasticity for simultaneous optical path configuration and deep learning model optimization thanks to the underlying opto-chemical reactions.We first employed the HOWM as an all optical in-sensor AI processor for one-shot pattern classification,association and denoising.We then leveraged HOWM to function as a ternary content addressable memory(TCAM)of an optical memory augmented neural network(MANN)for one-shot learning the Omniglot dataset.The HOWM empowered one-shot on-the-fly edge learning leads to 1000boost of energy efficiency and 10boost of speed,which paves the way for the next-generation autonomous,efficient,and affordable smart edge systems.

Photothermal properties of Cu@polycarbonate composites with strong localized surface plasmon resonances

Copper is relatively low cost and highly abundant compared with the well-studied noble metals such as gold and silver.However,the poor plasmonic and high susceptibility towards oxidation limit the study of its optical properties and applications as well.Herein,copper nanoparticles@polycarbonate(Cu@PC)composites were prepared by using a facile one-step solvothermal method.The Cu@PC composites have strong localized surface plasmon resonances(LSPR)due to that the PC shell can induce the particles to form many-particles system with different particle numbers,which not only lead to overlap and hybridize of the LSPR modes,but also shift the LSPR away from the interband transitions,and the PC layer also prevents the oxidation of Cu nanoparticles.The photothermal conversion efficiency of Cu@PC composites reaches 41.1%under 808 nm continuous wave(CW)laser irradiation which is higher than previously reported Cu nanomaterials that have been reported.Meanwhile,the composites also have high photothermal stability.Moreover,interfacial evaporator is prepared by assembling the Cu@PC composites on scouring sponge as light absorption layer which has>92.8%absorption in entire solar spectrum range.Its seawater evaporation rate is 3.177 kg·m^(-2)·h^(-1)with a E_(evaporator)/E_(water)of 5.2.The high evaporation rate interfacial evaporator with low cost,simple,and scalable approach shows great application value in the field of photothermal evaporation.

Construction of multiple interfaces and dielectric/magnetic heterostructures in electromagnetic wave absorbers with enhanced absorption performance:A review

The construction of structures with multiple interfaces and dielectric/magnetic heterostructures enables the design of materials with unique physical and chemical properties,which has aroused intensive interest in scientific and technological fields.Especially,for electromagnetic(EM)wave absorption,enhanced interface polarization and improved impedence match with high Snoek's limitation could be achieved by multiple interfaces and dielectric/magnetic heterostructures,respectively,which are benificial to high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorption(EWA).However,by far,the principles in the design or construction of structures with multiple interfaces and dielectric/magnetic heterostructures,and the relationships between those structures or heterostructures and their EWA performance have not been fully summarized and reviewed.This article aims to provide a timely review on the research progresses of high-efficency EM wave absorbers with multiple interfaces and dielectric/magnetic heterostructures,focusing on various promising EWA materials.Particularly,EM attenuation mechanisms in those structures with multiple interfaces and dielectric/magnetic heterostructures are discussed and generalized.Furthermore,the changllenges and future developments of EM wave absorbers based on those structures are proposed.

Carbon-based nanozymes for biomedical applications

Nanozymes are nanomaterials with enzyme-like properties that have attracted significant interest owing to their capability to address the limitations of traditional enzymes such as fragility,high cost,and impossible mass production.Over the past decade,a broad variety of nanomaterials have been found to mimic the enzyme-like activity by engineering the active centers of natural enzymes or developing multivalent elements within nanostructures.Carbon nanomaterials with well-defined electronic and geometric structures have served as favorable surrogates of traditional enzymes by mimicking the highly evolved catalytic center of natural enzymes.In particular,by combining the unique electronic,optical,thermal,and mechanical properties,carbon nanomaterials-based nanozymes can offer a variety of multifunctional platforms for biomedical applications.In this review,we will introduce the enzymatic characteristics and recent advances of carbon nanozymes,and summarize their significant applications in biomedicine.

Band-tailored van der Waals heterostructure for multilevel memory and artificial synapse

Two-dimensional(2D)van der Waals heterostructure(vdWH)-based floating gate devices show great potential for next-generation nonvolatile and multilevel data storage memory.However,high program voltage induced substantial energy consumption,which is one of the primary concerns,hinders their applications in lowenergy-consumption artificial synapses for neuromorphic computing.In this study,we demonstrate a three-terminal floating gate device based on the vdWH of tin disulfide(SnS2),hexagonal boron nitride(h-BN),and few-layer graphene.The large electron affinity of SnS2 facilitates a significant reduction in the program voltage of the device by lowering the hole-injection barrier across h-BN.Our floating gate device,as a nonvolatile multilevel electronic memory,exhibits large on/off current ratio(105),good retention(over 104 s),and robust endurance(over 1000 cycles).Moreover,it can function as an artificial synapse to emulate basic synaptic functions.Further,low energy consumption down to7 picojoule(pJ)can be achieved owing to the small program voltage.High linearity(<1)and conductance ratio(80)in long-term potentiation and depression(LTP/LTD)further contribute to the high pattern recognition accuracy(90%)in artificial neural network simulation.The proposed device with attentive band engineering can promote the future development of energy-efficient memory and neuromorphic devices.

Fluorescein supramolecular nanosheets: A novel organic photocatalyst for visible-light-driven H_2 evolution from water

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen evolution is one of the most promising approaches to address energy and environmental issues [1-4]. Metal-free photo- catalysts, usually containing low cost and earth-abundant C, N and O elements, are more advantageous than the traditional metal-based photocatalysts and have attracted considerable interest for many years [5-10].

Spiniform phase-encoded metagratings entangling arbitrary rational-order orbital angular momentum

Quantum entanglements between integer-order and fractional-order orbital angular momentums(OAMs)have been previously discussed.However,the entangled nature of arbitrary rational-order OAM has long been considered a myth due to the absence of an effective strategy for generating arbitrary rational-order OAM beams.Therefore,we report a single metadevice comprising a bilaterally symmetric grating with an aperture,creating optical beams with dynamically controllable OAM values that are continuously varying over a rational range.Due to its encoded spiniform phase,this novel metagrating enables the production of an average OAM that can be increased without a theoretical limit by embracing distributed singularities,which differs significantly from the classic method of stacking phase singularities using fork gratings.This new method makes it possible to probe the unexplored niche of quantum entanglement between arbitrarily defined OAMs in light,which could lead to the complex manipulation of microparticles,high-dimensional quantum entanglement and optical communication.We show that quantum coincidence based on rational-order OAM-superposition states could give rise to low cross-talks between two different states that have no significant overlap in their spiral spectra.Additionally,future applications in quantum communication and optical micromanipulation may be found.

Introduction to two-dimensional layered materials for ultrafast lasers

We introduce the background and motivation of this feature issue of two-dimensional layered materials for ultrafast lasers. A brief summary of the seven collected articles in this feature issue is also given.

Graphene/phosphorene nano-heterojunction:facile synthesis, nonlinear optics, and ultrafast photonics applications with enhanced performance

Owing to its thickness-modulated direct energy band gap, relatively strong light–matter interaction, and unique nonlinear optical response at a long wavelength, few-layer black phosphorus, or phosphorene, becomes very attractive in ultrafast photonics applications. Herein, we synthesized a graphene/phosphorene nano-heterojunction using a liquid phase-stripping method. Tiny lattice distortions in graphene and phosphorene suggest the formation of a nano-heterojunction between graphene and phosphorene nanosheets. In addition, we systematically investigate their nonlinear optical responses at different wavelength regimes. Our experiments indicate that the combined advantages of ultrafast relaxation, broadband response in graphene, and the strong light–matter interaction in phosphorene can be combined together by nano-heterojunction. We have further fabricated two-dimensional(2D) nano-heterojunction based optical saturable absorbers and integrated them into an erbium-doped fiber laser to demonstrate the generation of a stable ultrashort pulse down to 148 fs. Our results indicate that a graphene/phosphorene nano-heterojunction can operate as a promising saturable absorber for ultrafast laser systems with ultrahigh pulse energy and ultranarrow pulse duration. We believe this work opens up a new approach to designing 2D heterointerfaces for applications in ultrafast photonics and other research.The fabrication of a 2D nano-heterojunction assembled from stacking different 2D materials, via this facile and scalable growth approach, paves the way for the formation and tuning of new 2D materials with desirable photonic properties and applications.

Two-dimensional selenium and its composites for device applications

Two-dimensional(2D)selenium was synthesized successfully in 2017.Its advanced properties,including size-dependent bandgap,excellent environmental robustness,strong photoluminescence effect,anisotropic thermal conductivity,and high photoconductivity,render it and selenium-based composites a promising candidate for various device applications.These include batteries,modulators,photodetectors,and photothermal effects in medical applications.However,compared to other commonly used 2D materials,such as graphene,transition metal dichalcogenides,and black phosphorus,2D Se is much less known.Motivated by the need to overcome this lack of knowledge,this article focuses on recent progress and elucidates the crystal structure,synthesis methods,physical properties,applications,challenges,and prospects of 2D Se nanoflakes.

PbCrO_4 yellow-pigment nanorods: An efficient and stable visible-light-active photocatalyst for O_2 evolution and photodegradation

Here, PbCrO4 nanorods, a commonly used and low-cost yellow pigment, was synthesized via a simple pre-cipitation reaction and can serve as a highly efficient oxygen production and photodegradation photocatalyst. The obtained PbCrO4 nanorods exhibit excellent stability and pho-tocatalytic performance for O2 evolution from water. The production rate is approximately 314.0μmol h^-1 g^-1 under visible light, and the quantum efficiency is approximately 2.16% at 420±10 nm and 0.05% at 600±10 nm. In addition, the PhCrO4 shows good degradation performance for methylene blue, methyl blue, methyl orange and phenol under visible-light irradiation. These results indicate that it is potential to fabricate an effective, robust PbCrO4 photocatalyst by trans-forming heavy-metal pollutants Pb（II） and Cr（VI） into a highly efficient O2 evolution and photodegradation material. This strategy which uses pollutant to produce clean energy and degrade contaminants is completely green and environmentally benign, and thus could be a promising way for practical environmental applications. Keywords： 02 evolution, pollutant, PbCrO4 nanorods, visible-light-active, photocatalyst