The rational design of high‐performance flexible pressure sensors attracts attention because of the potential applications in wearable electronics and human–machine interfacing. For practical applications, pressure sensors with high sensitivity and low detection limit are desired. Here, ta simple process to fabricate high‐performance pressure sensors based on biomimetic hierarchical structures and highly conductive active membranes is presented. Aligned carbon nanotubes/graphene (ACNT/G) is used as the active material and microstructured polydimethylsiloxane (m‐PDMS) molded from natural leaves is used as the flexible matrix. The highly conductive ACNT/G films with unique coalescent structures, which are directly grown using chemical vapor deposition, can be conformably coated on the m‐PDMS films with hierarchical protuberances. Flexible ACNT/G pressure sensors are then constructed by putting two ACNT/G/PDMS films face to face with the orientation of the ACNTs in the two films perpendicular to each other. Due to the unique hierarchical structures of both the ACNT/G and m‐PDMS films, the obtained pressure sensors demonstrate high sensitivity (19.8 kPa−1, <0.3 kPa), low detection limit (0.6 Pa), fast response time (<16.7 ms), low operating voltage (0.03 V), and excellent stability for more than 35 000 loading–unloading cycles, thus promising potential applications in wearable electronics.

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The Schulz-Flory distribution is a mathematical function that describes the relative ratios of polymers of different length after a polymerization process, based on their relative probabilities of occurrence. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are big carbon molecules which have a very high length-to-diameter ratio, somewhat similar to polymer molecules. Large amounts of ultralong CNTs have not been obtained although they are highly desired. Here, we report that the Schulz-Flory distribution can be applied to describe the relative ratios of CNTs of different lengths produced with a floating chemical vapor deposition process, based on catalyst activity/deactivation probability. With the optimized processing parameters, we successfully synthesized 550-mm-long CNTs, for which the catalyst deactivation probability of a single growth step was ultralow. Our finding bridges the Schulz-Flory distribution and the synthesis of one-dimensional nanomaterials for the first time, and sheds new light on the rational design of process toward controlled production of nanotubes/nanowires.

Friction and wear are two main causes of mechanical energy dissipation and component failure, especially in micro/nanomechanical systems with large surface-to-volume ratios. In the past decade there has been an increasing level of research interest regarding superlubricity, a phenomenon, also called structural superlubricity, in which friction almost vanishes between two incommensurate solid surfaces. However, all experimental structural superlubricity has been obtained on the microscale or nanoscale, and predominantly under high vacuum. Here, we show that superlubricity can be realized in centimetres-long double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) under ambient conditions. Centimetres-long inner shells can be pulled out continuously from such nanotubes, with an intershell friction lower than 1 nN that is independent of nanotube length. The shear strength of the DWCNTs is only several pascals, four orders of magnitude lower than the lowest reported value in CNTs and graphite. The perfect structure of the ultralong DWCNTs used in our experiments is essential for macroscale superlubricity.

All-solid-state sodium-ion batteries (ASIBs) are promising candidates for large-scale energy storage applications. To build such a battery system, efficient solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) with high sodium ionic conductivity at room temperature and good electrochemical stability as well as interface compatibility are required. In this work, using density functional theory combined with molecular dynamics simulation and a phase diagram, we have studied the potential of yttrium halide-based materials (Na3YX6, where X = Cl or Br) with inherent cation vacancies as diffusion carriers for solid electrolytes in ASIBs. A great balance between electrochemical stability and ionic conductivity found in these two systems overcomes the shortcomings of sulfide- and oxide-based SSEs. In particular, these two materials show Na+ conductivities of 0.77 and 0.44 mS cm–1 at 300 K and wide electrochemical windows of 0.51–3.75 and 0.57–3.36 V, and good interfacial stability with Na metal anode and high-potential polyanion (fluoro)­phosphate cathode materials, respectively. These features make halide-based materials promising efficient solid-state electrolytes for Na-ion batteries.

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Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) directly synthesized on surfaces are promising building blocks for nanoelectronics. The structures and the arrangement of the SWNTs on surfaces determine the quality and density of the fabricated nanoelectronics, implying the importance of structure controlled growth of SWNTs on surfaces. This review summarizes the recent research status in controlling the orientation, length, density, diameter, metallicity, and chirality of SWNTs directly synthesized on surfaces by chemical vapor deposition, together with a session presenting the characterization method of the chirality of SWNTs. Finally, the remaining major challenges are discussed and future research directions are proposed.

Consistent-chirality carbon nanotube tangles with high on-currents in transistors.