Black phosphorus is a two-dimensional material of great interest, in part because of its high carrier mobility and thickness dependent direct bandgap. However, its instability under ambient conditions limits material deposition options for device fabrication. Here we show a black phosphorus ink that can be reliably inkjet printed, enabling scalable development of optoelectronic and photonic devices. Our binder-free ink suppresses coffee ring formation through induced recirculating Marangoni flow, and supports excellent consistency (< 2% variation) and spatial uniformity (< 3.4% variation), without substrate pre-treatment. Due to rapid ink drying (< 10 s at < 60 °C), printing causes minimal oxidation. Following encapsulation, the printed black phosphorus is stable against long-term (> 30 days) oxidation. We demonstrate printed black phosphorus as a passive switch for ultrafast lasers, stable against intense irradiation, and as a visible to near-infrared photodetector with high responsivities. Our work highlights the promise of this material as a functional ink platform for printed devices.

We demonstrate mode-locking of a thulium-doped fiber laser operating at 1.94 μm, using a graphene-polymer based saturable absorber. The laser outputs 3.6 ps pulses, with ~0.4 nJ energy and an amplitude fluctuation ~0.5%, at 6.46 MHz. This is a simple, low-cost, stable and convenient laser oscillator for applications where eye-safe and low-photon-energy light sources are required, such as sensing and biomedical diagnostics.

A simple solvothermal method has been discovered to synthesize single-walled flux-closure Ni-Co magnetic alloy nanorings in high yield, which are directly fabricated in a reaction solution and able to chronically exist in solution.

We fabricate a free-standing few-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 )-polymer composite by liquid phase exfoliation of chemically pristine MoS 2 crystals and use this to demonstrate a wideband tunable, ultrafast mode-locked fiber laser. Stable, picosecond pulses, tunable from 1,535 nm to 1,565 nm, are generated, corresponding to photon energies below the MoS 2 material bandgap. These results contribute to the growing body of work studying the nonlinear optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenides that present new opportunities for ultrafast photonic applications.

Many of us “see red,” “feel blue,” or “turn green with envy.” Are such color-emotion associations fundamental to our shared cognitive architecture, or are they cultural creations learned through our languages and traditions? To answer these questions, we tested emotional associations of colors in 4,598 participants from 30 nations speaking 22 native languages. Participants associated 20 emotion concepts with 12 color terms. Pattern-similarity analyses revealed universal color-emotion associations (average similarity coefficient r = .88). However, local differences were also apparent. A machine-learning algorithm revealed that nation predicted color-emotion associations above and beyond those observed universally. Similarity was greater when nations were linguistically or geographically close. This study highlights robust universal color-emotion associations, further modulated by linguistic and geographic factors. These results pose further theoretical and empirical questions about the affective properties of color and may inform practice in applied domains, such as well-being and design.

Abstract2D nanomaterials are emerging as a promising platform for ultrashort‐pulse fiber laser technology. This review presents a catalog of the factors affecting the nonlinear optical properties of 2D nanomaterials and the recent progress in processing and integration strategies into saturable absorber devices as versatile, wideband ultrafast optical switches for fiber‐based‐laser short‐pulse generation. Particular focus is on black phosphorus, and a summary of the current status of black‐phosphorus‐based pulsed lasers is given, which provide new potential efficacy for this and other 2D nanomaterials in ultrafast photonic technology.

Few-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2) is emerging as a promising quasi-two-dimensional material, further extending the library of suitable layered nanomaterials with exceptional optical properties for use in saturable absorber devices that enable short-pulse generation in laser systems. In this article, we catalog and review the nonlinear optical properties of few-layer MoS 2 , summarize recent progress in processing and integration into saturable absorber devices and comment on the current status and future perspectives of MoS 2-based pulsed lasers. OCIS codes: (140.3538) Lasers, pulsed; (160.4236) Nanomaterials; (160.4330) Nonlinear optical materials; (230.4320) Nonlinear optical devices.

environmentally friendly energy storage devices. As an emerging energy powering sources, supercapacitors (SCs) hold a vital and individual position owing to their high power density, excellent cycling stability, fast charge/discharge process as well as noticeable reliability, tremendously bridging the gap between rechargeable batteries and traditional capacitors in terms of energy density and power density. [1][2][3][4] Nevertheless, their commercial applications are still seriously impeded since energy densities of SCs are far lagging behind rechargeable batteries. [5,6] In the light of the critical parameters that decide the energy density (E = 1/2CV 2 ) of supercapacitor devices, [7][8][9] substantial efforts have been dedicated to maximizing the energy density via elevating the overall cell voltage (V) and total specific capacitance (C) governed by negative and positive electrodes. Configuration of asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) has emerged as a desirable strategy because of the expanded V arised from the absolutely opposite potential window of the two dissimilar electrode materials. [10][11][12] Accordingly, considerable research interest has been invested in constructing highly capacitive negative and positive electrode materials.Until now, transition metal oxides, hydroxides, or phosphides, especially Ni-Co compounds with low cost, natural abundance, and environmentally benign, are mostly employed as positive electrode materials in ASCs because they can present variable oxidation states, favorable electrochemical activity, and large theoretical-specific capacitance based on redox reactions, so they have received extensive attentions as perfect candidates in ASCs. [13][14][15][16][17][18] However, in comparison of the extraordinary advancement obtained by positive electrode materials, the lack of desired negative electrodes restricts the progress of high-performance ASCs. Previously, carbonaceous materials are still the most widely used as negative electrode, giving rise to low-specific capacitance of 100-250 F g −1 . [19][20][21][22][23] In this regard, pseudocapacitive negative electrode materials are proposed to be hopeful alternatives, whereas the restricted studies and poor , even when charging the device within 6.5 s, the energy density can still maintain as high as 45 W h kg −1 at 26.1 kW kg −1 , and the ASC manifests long cycling lifespan with 86.6% capacitance retention even after 5000 cycles. This pioneering work not only offers an attractive strategy for rational construction of high-performance SiC NW-based nanostructured electrodes materials, but also provides a fresh route for manufacturing next-generation high-energy storage and conversion systems.