Since the discovery of mechanically exfoliated graphene in 2004, research on ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials has grown exponentially in the fields of condensed matter physics, material science, chemistry, and nanotechnology. Highlighting their compelling physical, chemical, electronic, and optical properties, as well as their various potential applications, in this Review, we summarize the state-of-art progress on the ultrathin 2D nanomaterials with a particular emphasis on their recent advances. First, we introduce the unique advances on ultrathin 2D nanomaterials, followed by the description of their composition and crystal structures. The assortments of their synthetic methods are then summarized, including insights on their advantages and limitations, alongside some recommendations on suitable characterization techniques. We also discuss in detail the utilization of these ultrathin 2D nanomaterials for wide ranges of potential applications among the electronics/optoelectronics, electrocat...

Recent Advances in Ultrathin Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials

Graphene oxide: preparation, functionalization, and electrochemical applications.

The design and synthesis of efficient electrocatalysts are important for electrochemical conversion technologies. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key process in such conversions, having applications in water splitting and metal–air batteries. Here, we report ultrathin metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as promising electrocatalysts for the OER in alkaline conditions. Our as-prepared ultrathin NiCo bimetal–organic framework nanosheets on glassy-carbon electrodes require an overpotential of 250 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2. When the MOF nanosheets are loaded on copper foam, this decreases to 189 mV. We propose that the surface atoms in the ultrathin MOF sheets are coordinatively unsaturated—that is, they have open sites for adsorption—as evidenced by a suite of measurements, including X-ray spectroscopy and density-functional theory calculations. The findings suggest that the coordinatively unsaturated metal atoms are the dominating active centres and the coupling effect between Ni and Co metals is crucial for tuning the electrocatalytic activity. Efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen–evolution reaction are desired due to their importance in applications such as water splitting and metal–air batteries. Here, the authors engineer ultrathin metal–organic frameworks that require low overpotential to generate oxygen from alkaline media.

Ultrathin metal–organic framework nanosheets for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of crystalline porous organic polymers with permanent porosity and highly ordered structures. Unlike other polymers, a significant feature of COFs is that they are structurally predesignable, synthetically controllable, and functionally manageable. In principle, the topological design diagram offers geometric guidance for the structural tiling of extended porous polygons, and the polycondensation reactions provide synthetic ways to construct the predesigned primary and high-order structures. Progress over the past decade in the chemistry of these two aspects undoubtedly established the base of the COF field. By virtue of the availability of organic units and the diversity of topologies and linkages, COFs have emerged as a new field of organic materials that offer a powerful molecular platform for complex structural design and tailor-made functional development. Here we target a comprehensive review of the COF field, provide a historic overview of the chemistry of the COF field, survey the advances in the topology design and synthetic reactions, illustrate the structural features and diversities, scrutinize the development and potential of various functions through elucidating structure-function correlations based on interactions with photons, electrons, holes, spins, ions, and molecules, discuss the key fundamental and challenging issues that need to be addressed, and predict the future directions from chemistry, physics, and materials perspectives.

Covalent Organic Frameworks: Design, Synthesis, and Functions.

Understanding the origin of high activity of Fe–N–C electrocatalysts in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is critical but still challenging for developing efficient sustainable nonprecious metal catalysts in fuel cells and metal–air batteries. Herein, we developed a new highly active Fe–N–C ORR catalyst containing Fe–Nx coordination sites and Fe/Fe3C nanocrystals (Fe@C-FeNC), and revealed the origin of its activity by intensively investigating the composition and the structure of the catalyst and their correlations with the electrochemical performance. The detailed analyses unambiguously confirmed the coexistence of Fe/Fe3C nanocrystals and Fe–Nx in the best catalyst. A series of designed experiments disclosed that (1) N-doped carbon substrate, Fe/Fe3C nanocrystals or Fe–Nx themselves did not deliver the high activity; (2) the catalysts with both Fe/Fe3C nanocrystals and Fe–Nx exhibited the high activity; (3) the higher content of Fe–Nx gave the higher activity; (4) the removal of Fe/Fe3C nanocrystals sever...

Understanding the High Activity of Fe-N-C Electrocatalysts in Oxygen Reduction: Fe/Fe3C Nanoparticles Boost the Activity of Fe-N(x).

All-electrospun flexible triboelectric nanogenerator based on metallic MXene nanosheets

Direct electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide on ionic liquid doped screen-printed electrode and its electrochemical biosensing application

From environmental monitoring to point-of-care biofluid analysis, rapid ion determination requires robust analytical tools. In recent years, driven by the development of materials science and processing technology, solid-contact ion-selective electrodes (SC-ISEs) with high-performance functional materials and creative structures have shown great potential for routine and portable ion detection. In particular, the introduction of nanomaterials as ion-to-electron transducers and the adoption of different performance enhancement strategies have significantly promoted the development of SC-ISEs. Besides, with the increasing miniaturization, flexibility, and dependability of SC-ISEs, this field has gradually begun to evolve from conventional potentiometric ion sensing to integrated sensing systems with broader application scenarios. This comprehensive review covers pioneering research on functional materials and state-of-the-art technologies for the construction of SC-ISEs, with an emphasis on new development trends and applications.

Recent advances in solid-contact ion-selective electrodes: functional materials, transduction mechanisms, and development trends.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets, such as MoS2, WS2, etc., are attracting increasing interest due to their intriguing physical, chemical, electronic, and optical properties. Success in development of methods for large-scale production of 2D TMD nanosheets and their composites has given great potential for various novel applications. In this review, recent progress in sensing applications of 2D TMD nanosheets and their composites is introduced. Moreover, different sensing strategies and signal-transducing mechanisms for sensing devices based on 2D TMD nanosheets and their composites are also summarized and discussed.

Jianfeng Ping

Papers

All-electrospun flexible triboelectric nanogenerator based on metallic MXene nanosheets

Direct electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide on ionic liquid doped screen-printed electrode and its electrochemical biosensing application

Recent advances in solid-contact ion-selective electrodes: functional materials, transduction mechanisms, and development trends.

Recent Advances in Sensing Applications of Two‐Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Nanosheets and Their Composites

Impedimetric immunosensor based on gold nanoparticles modified graphene paper for label-free detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7