Demands of the strong integrated materials have substantially increased across various industries. Inspired by the relationship of excellent integration of mechanical properties and hierarchical nano/microscale structure of the natural nacre, we have developed a strategy for fabricating the strong integrated artificial nacre based on graphene oxide (GO) sheets by dopamine cross-linking via evaporation-induced assembly process. The tensile strength and toughness simultaneously show 1.5 and 2 times higher than that of natural nacre. Meanwhile, the artificial nacre shows high electrical conductivity. This type of strong integrated artificial nacre has great potential applications in aerospace, flexible supercapacitor electrodes, artificial muscle, and tissue engineering.

Colloidal photonic crystals (PCs) have been well developed because they are easy to prepare, cost-effective, and versatile with regards to modification and functionalization. Patterned colloidal PCs contribute a novel approach to constructing high-performance PC devices with unique structures and specific functions. In this review, an overview of the strategies for fabricating patterned colloidal PCs, including patterned substrate-induced assembly, inkjet printing, and selective immobilization and modification, is presented. The advantages of patterned PC devices are also discussed in detail, for example, improved detection sensitivity and response speed of the sensors, control over the flow direction and wicking rate of microfluidic channels, recognition of cross-reactive molecules through an array-patterned microchip, fabrication of display devices with tunable patterns, well-arranged RGB units, and wide viewing-angles, and the ability to construct anti-counterfeiting devices with different security strategies. Finally, the perspective of future developments and challenges is presented.

Flexible reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets are being considered for applications in portable electrical devices and flexible energy storage systems. However, the poor mechanical properties and electrical conductivities of rGO sheets are limiting factors for the development of such devices. Here we use MXene (M) nanosheets to functionalize graphene oxide platelets through Ti-O-C covalent bonding to obtain MrGO sheets. A MrGO sheet was crosslinked by a conjugated molecule (1-aminopyrene-disuccinimidyl suberate, AD). The incorporation of MXene nanosheets and AD molecules reduces the voids within the graphene sheet and improves the alignment of graphene platelets, resulting in much higher compactness and high toughness. In situ Raman spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations reveal the synergistic interfacial interaction mechanisms of Ti-O-C covalent bonding, sliding of MXene nanosheets, and π-π bridging. Furthermore, a supercapacitor based on our super-tough MXene-functionalized graphene sheets provides a combination of energy and power densities that are high for flexible supercapacitors.

Natural nacre, which consists of almost 95 vol % inorganic content (calcium carbonate) and 5 vol % elastic biopolymers, possesses a unique combination of remarkable strength and toughness, [1] which is attributed to its hierarchical nano-/ microscale structure and precise inorganic-organic interface. [2] Inspired by the intrinsic relationship between the structures and the mechanical properties lying in the natural nacre, different types of nacre-like layered nanocomposites have been fabricated with two-dimensional (2D) inorganic additives, including glass flake, [3] alumina flake, [4] graphene oxide, [5] layered double hydroxides, [6] nanoclay, [7] and flattened double-walled carbon nanotubes. [8] Although great progress has been achieved in tensile mechanical properties, [7b,c, 8, 9] in only very rare cases are artificial layered composites with excellent toughness are obtained. [6,10] One of the most important causes is the relatively low interfacial strength between interlayers of artificial nacre. Recently, 2D graphene has attracted much research interest owing to its outstanding electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties, [11] and many graphene-based devices have been fabricated, [12] such as bulk composites, [13] one-dimensional fibers, [14] supercapacitors. [15] As the water-soluble derivative of graphene,

Ultratrace detection attracts great interest because it is still a challenge to the early diagnosis and drug testing. Enriching the targets from highly diluted solutions to the sensitive area is a promising method. Inspired by the fog-collecting structure on Stenocara beetle's back, a photonic-crystal (PC) microchip with hydrophilic-hydrophobic micropattern was fabricated by inkjet printing. This device was used to realize high-sensitive ultratrace detection of fluorescence analytes and fluorophore-based assays. Coupled with the fluorescence enhancement effect of a PC, detection down to 10(-16) mol L(-1) was achieved. This design can be combined with biophotonic devices for the detection of drugs, diseases, and pollutions of the ecosystem.

Droplet manipulations are fundamental to numerous applications, such as water collection, medical diagnostics, and drug delivery. Structure-based liquid operations have been widely used both in nature and in artificial materials. However, current strategies depend mainly on fixed structures to realize unidirectional water movement, while multiple manipulation of droplets is still challenging. Here, we propose a magnetic-actuated robot with adjustable structures to achieve programmable multiple manipulations of droplets. The adjustable structure redistributes the resisting forces from the front and rear ends of the droplets, which determine the droplet behaviors. We can transport, split, release, and rotate the droplets using the robot. This robot is universally applicable for manipulation of various fluids in rough environments. These findings offer an efficient strategy for automated manipulation of droplets.

A mechanically robust conducting polymer network electrode is architected for high-performance flexible PSCs and ST-PSCs. The network structure simultaneously satisfies high conductivity, high transmittance, and excellent flexibility. Accordingly, the flexible PSCs and PSM with a record PCE of 19.0% and 10.9% are achieved with excellent mechanical flexibility and long-time stability.

A seed printing method is developed for controllably producing perovskite single-crystal films with high yield.