Atom-thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have emerged as fascinating materials and key structures for electrocatalysis. So far, their edges, dopant heteroatoms and defects have been intensively explored as active sites for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) to split water. However, grain boundaries (GBs), a key type of defects in TMDs, have been overlooked due to their low density and large structural variations. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of wafer-size atom-thin TMD films with an ultra-high-density of GBs, up to ~1012 cm−2. We propose a climb and drive 0D/2D interaction to explain the underlying growth mechanism. The electrocatalytic activity of the nanograin film is comprehensively examined by micro-electrochemical measurements, showing an excellent hydrogen-evolution performance (onset potential: −25 mV and Tafel slope: 54 mV dec−1), thus indicating an intrinsically high activation of the TMD GBs.

Precise patterning and controllable assembly of graphene into 3D architectures for flexible micro-supercapacitors was achieved by a printing assembly approach.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a category of promising two-dimensional (2D) materials for the optoelectronic devices, and their unique characteristics include tunable band gap, nondangling bonds as well as compatibility to large-scale fabrication, for instance, chemical vapor deposition (CVD). MoS 2 is one of the first TMDs that is well studied in the photodetection area widely. However, the low photoresponse restricts its applications in photodetectors unless the device is applied with ultrahigh source− drain voltage (V DS ) and gate voltage (V GS ). In this work, the photoresponse of a MoS 2 photodetector was improved by a chemical in situ doping method using gold chloride hydrate. The responsivity and specific detectivity were increased to 99.9 A/ W and 9.4 × 10 12 Jones under low V DS (0.1 V) and V GS (0 V), which are 14.6 times and 4.8 times higher than those of a pristine photodetector, respectively. The photoresponse enhancement results from chlorine n-type doping in CVD MoS 2 which reduces the trapping of photoinduced electrons and promotes the photogating effect. This novel doping strategy leads to great applications of high-performance MoS 2 photodetectors potentially and opens a new avenue to enhance photoresponse for other 2D materials.

Miniaturized spectrometers are of considerable interest for their portability. Most designs to date employ a photodetector array with distinct spectral responses or require elaborated integration of micro & nano optic modules, typically with a centimeter-scale footprint. Here, we report a design of a micron-sized near-infrared ultra-miniaturized spectrometer based on two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructure (2D-vdWH). By introducing heavy metal atoms with delocalized electronic orbitals between 2D-vdWHs, we greatly enhance the interlayer coupling and realize electrically tunable infrared photoresponse (1.15 to 1.47 μm). Combining the gate-tunable photoresponse and regression algorithm, we achieve spectral reconstruction and spectral imaging in a device with an active footprint < 10 μm. Considering the ultra-small footprint and simple fabrication process, the 2D-vdWHs with designable bandgap energy and enhanced photoresponse offer an attractive solution for on-chip infrared spectroscopy.

Multi-response, multi-function and high integration are the critical pursuits of advanced electronic wearable sensors. Graphene aerogel endows a three-dimensional (3D) deformation morphology with excellent flexible wearable electronics of sheeted graphene. Here we report the fabrication of a neat graphene aerogel with micro extrusion printing to electronic sensor devices with a 3D nanostructure. The printed neat graphene patterns have excellent conductivity and the controllable 3D nanostructure of graphene aerogel contributes multi-dimensional deformation responses, which are appropriately suitable for the multi-recognition flexible wearable electric sensor. With complicated movement perception, the printed graphene aerogel sensors run the remarkable gesture language analysis for a deaf-mute communication auxiliary device or gesture manipulation apparatuses.