Heteroatom-doped graphene materials have been intensely studied as active electrodes in energy storage devices. Here, we demonstrate that boron-doped porous graphene can be prepared in ambient air using a facile laser induction process from boric acid containing polyimide sheets. At the same time, active electrodes can be patterned for flexible microsupercapacitors. As a result of boron doping, the highest areal capacitance of as-prepared devices reaches 16.5 mF/cm(2), 3 times higher than nondoped devices, with concomitant energy density increases of 5-10 times at various power densities. The superb cyclability and mechanical flexibility of the device are well-maintained, showing great potential for future microelectronics made from this boron-doped laser-induced graphene material.

Graphite intercalation compounds (GIC) possess a broad range of unique properties that are not specific to the parent materials. While the stage transition, changing the number of graphene layers sandwiched between the two layers of intercalant, is fundamentally important and has been theoretically addressed, experimental studies revealed only macroscopic parameters. On the microscale, the phenomenon remains elusive up to the present day. Here we monitor directly in real time the stage transitions using a combination of optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. These direct observations yield several mechanistic conclusions. While we obtained strong experimental evidence in support of the Daumas-Herold theory, we find that the conventional interpretation of stage transitions as sliding of the existing intercalant domains does not sufficiently capture the actual phenomena. The entire GIC structure transforms considerably during the stage transition. Among other observations, massive wavefront-like perturbations occur on the graphite surface, which we term the tidal wave effect.

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) show great promise for flexible, low‐cost, and low‐voltage sensors for aqueous solutions. The majority of OECT devices are made using the polymer blend poly(ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), in which PEDOT is intrinsically doped due to inclusion of PSS. Because of this intrinsic doping, PEDOT:PSS OECTs generally operate in depletion mode, which results in a higher power consumption and limits stability. Here, a straightforward method to de‐dope PEDOT:PSS using commercially available amine‐based molecular de‐dopants to achieve stable enhancement‐mode OECTs is presented. The enhancement‐mode OECTs show mobilities near that of pristine PEDOT:PSS (≈2 cm2 V−1 s−1) with stable operation over 1000 on/off cycles. The electron and proton exchange among PEDOT, PSS, and the molecular de‐dopants are characterized to reveal the underlying chemical mechanism of the threshold voltage shift to negative voltages. Finally, the effect of the de‐doping on the microstructure of the spin‐cast PEDOT:PSS films is investigated.

High mobility ambipolor organic thin-film transistors based on an ultralow bandgap polymer are presented together with their morphological and optical properties. Hole and electron mobilities of this polymer are of 1.0 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and 0.7 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), respectively. The inverter based on two identical ambipolar transistors exhibits a gain around 35.

A family of four new DA polymers, in which the acceptor moiety benzobisthiadiazole was paired with four different donor moieties, has been synthesized. Surpri-singly, all members of the family exhibit balanced ambipolar behavior, despite polymer to polymer mobilities varying from 10(-4) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) to 10(-1) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). Applications in single component CMOS integrated circuits are envisioned.

A facile route is developed to boost the electrocatalytic activity of WS2 by chemically unzipping WS2 nanotubes to form WS2 nanoribbons (NRs) with increased edge content. Analysis indicates that the hydrogen evolution reaction activity is strongly associated with the number of exposed active edge sites. The formation of WS2 NRs is an effective route for controlling the electrochemical properties of the 2D dichalcogenides, enabling their application in electrocatalysis.

Metal contacts are a key limiter to the electronic performance of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor devices. Here we present a comprehensive study of contact interfaces between seven metals (Y, Sc, Ag, Al, Ti, Au, Ni, with work functions from 3.1 to 5.2 eV) and monolayer MoS 2 grown by chemical vapor deposition. We evaporate thin metal films onto MoS 2 and study the interfaces by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and electrical characterization. We uncover that, 1) ultrathin oxidized Al dopes MoS 2 ntype (>2×10 12 cm -2 ) without degrading its mobility, 2) Ag, Au, and Ni deposition causes varying levels of damage to MoS 2 (broadening Raman E' peak from <3 cm -1 to >6 cm -1 ), and 3) Ti, Sc, and Y react with MoS 2 . Reactive metals must be avoided in contacts to monolayer MoS 2 , but control studies reveal the reaction is mostly limited to the top layer of multilayer films. Finally, we find that 4) thin metals do not significantly strain MoS 2 , as confirmed by X-ray diffraction. These are important findings for metal contacts to MoS 2 , and broadly applicable to many other 2D semiconductors.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exist in various crystal structures with semiconducting, semi-metallic, and metallic properties. The dynamic control of these phases is of immediate interest for next generation electronics such as phase change memories. Of the binary Mo and W-based TMDs, MoTe2 is attractive for electronic applications because it has the lowest energy difference (40 meV) between the semiconducting (2H) and semi-metallic (1T') phases, allowing for MoTe2 phase change by electrostatic doping. Here we report phase change between the 2H and 1T' polymorphs of MoTe2 in thicknesses ranging from the monolayer case to effective bulk (73nm) using an ionic liquid electrolyte at room temperature and in air. We find consistent evidence of a partially reversible 2H-1T' transition using in-situ Raman spectroscopy where the phase change occurs in the top-most layers of the MoTe2 flake. We find a thickness-dependent transition voltage where higher voltages are necessary to drive the phase change for thicker flakes. We also show evidence of electrochemical activity during the gating process by observation of Te metal deposition. This finding suggests the formation of Te vacancies which have been reported to lower the energy difference between the 2H and 1T' phase, potentially aiding the phase change process. Our discovery that the phase change can be achieved on the surface layer of bulk materials reveals that this electrochemical mechanism does not require isolation of a single layer and the effect may be more broadly applicable than previously thought.