Dual-mode textiles made of nanoPE provide both cooling and heating, which helps humans adapt to larger temperature changes.

No abstract

Electrochemical intercalation of ions into the van der Waals gap of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials is a promising low-temperature synthesis strategy to tune their physical and chemical properties. It is widely believed that ions prefer intercalation into the van der Waals gap through the edges of the 2D flake, which generally causes wrinkling and distortion. Here we demonstrate that the ions can also intercalate through the top surface of few-layer MoS2 and this type of intercalation is more reversible and stable compared to the intercalation through the edges. Density functional theory calculations show that this intercalation is enabled by the existence of natural defects in exfoliated MoS2 flakes. Furthermore, we reveal that sealed-edge MoS2 allows intercalation of small alkali metal ions (e.g., Li+ and Na+) and rejects large ions (e.g., K+). These findings imply potential applications in developing functional 2D-material-based devices with high tunability and ion selectivity.

Tungsten diselenide (WSe2) is an attractive transition metal dichalcogenide material, since its Fermi energy close to the mid gap makes it an excellent candidate for realizing p–n junction devices and complementary digital logic applications. Doping is one of the most important technologies for controlling the Fermi energy in semiconductors, including 2D materials. Here we present a simple, stable and controllable p-doping technique on a WSe2 monolayer, where a more p-typed WSe2 field effect transistor is realized by electron transfer from the WSe2 to the gold (Au) decorated on the WSe2 surfaces. Related changes in Raman spectroscopy are also reported. The p-doping caused by Au on WSe2 monolayers lowers the channel resistance by orders of magnitude. The effective hole mobility is ∼100 (cm2/Vs) and the near ideal subthreshold swing of ∼60 mV/decade and high on/off current ratio of >106 are observed. The Au deposited on the WSe2 also serves as a protection layer to prevent a reaction between the WSe2 and the environment, making the doping stable and promising for future scalable fabrication.

Supercooled liquid sulfur microdroplets were directly generated from polysulfide electrochemical oxidation on various metal-containing electrodes. The sulfur droplets remain liquid at 155 °C below sulfur’s melting point (Tm = 115 °C), with fractional supercooling change (Tm − Tsc)/Tm larger than 0.40. In operando light microscopy captured the rapid merging and shape relaxation of sulfur droplets, indicating their liquid nature. Micropatterned electrode and electrochemical current allow precise control of the location and size of supercooled microdroplets, respectively. Using this platform, we initiated and observed the rapid solidification of supercooled sulfur microdroplets upon crystalline sulfur touching, which confirms supercooled sulfur’s metastability at room temperature. In addition, the formation of liquid sulfur in electrochemical cell enriches lithium-sulfur-electrolyte phase diagram and potentially may create new opportunities for high-energy Li-S batteries.