Appreciable photovoltaic responses to visible light are observed in epitaxial ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films by sputtering deposition. The photocurrent direction is opposite to the BiFeO3 polarization vector and can be switched by poling the films in different directions (see figure). The as‐deposited films are strongly self‐polarized, exhibiting significant photovoltaic response before any electrical poling process.

CuO nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a one-step solid-state reaction under ambient conditions. Three pellet samples with different grain sizes were obtained by annealing at high temperature. The room temperature Raman spectra of these samples show that as the grain size decreases, the Raman peaks shift to lower wavenumber and become broader owing to size effects. The dependences of the Raman spectra on the wavelength of the excitation laser and temperature were also investigated.

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Highly sensitive, multicomponent broadband photodetector devices are made from PbSe/graphene/TiO(2). TiO(2) and PbSe nanoparticles act as light harvesting photoactive materials from the UV to IR regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, while the graphene acts as a charge collector for both photogenerated holes and electrons under an applied electric field.

Research on two-dimensional (2D) materials has been explosively increasing in last seventeen years in varying subjects including condensed matter physics, electronic engineering, materials science, and chemistry since the mechanical exfoliation of graphene in 2004. Starting from graphene, 2D materials now have become a big family with numerous members and diverse categories. The unique structural features and physicochemical properties of 2D materials make them one class of the most appealing candidates for a wide range of potential applications.In particular, we have seen some major breakthroughs made in the field of 2D materials in last five years not only in developing novel synthetic methods and exploring new structures/properties but also in identifying innovative applications and pushing forward commercialisation. In this review, we provide a critical summary on the recent progress made in the field of 2D materials with a particular focus on last five years. After a brief background 物理化学学报 Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. 2021, 37 (12), 2108017 (3 of 151) introduction, we first discuss the major synthetic methods for 2D materials, including the mechanical exfoliation, liquid exfoliation, vapor phase deposition, and wet-chemical synthesis as well as phase engineering of 2D materials belonging to the field of phase engineering of nanomaterials (PEN). We then introduce the superconducting/optical/magnetic properties and chirality of 2D materials along with newly emerging magic angle 2D superlattices. Following that, the promising applications of 2D materials in electronics, optoelectronics, catalysis, energy storage, solar cells, biomedicine, sensors, environments, etc. are described sequentially. Thereafter, we present the theoretic calculations and simulations of 2D materials. Finally, after concluding the current progress, we provide some personal discussions on the existing challenges and future outlooks in this rapidly developing field.

2D organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) represent a unique class of materials with a natural quantum-well structure and quasi-2D electronic properties. Here, a versatile direct solution-based synthesis of mono- and few-layer OIHP nanosheets and a systematic study of their electronic structure as a function of the number of monolayers by photoluminescence and absorption spectroscopy are reported. The monolayers of various OIHPs are found to exhibit high electronic quality as evidenced by high quantum yield and negligible Stokes shift. It is shown that the ground exciton peak blueshifts by ≈40 meV when the layer thickness reduces from bulk to monolayer. It is also shown that the exciton binding energy remains effectively unchanged for (C H (CH ) NH ) PbI with the number of layers. Similar trends are observed for (C H NH ) PbI in contrast to the previous report. Further, the photoluminescence lifetime is found to decrease with the number of monolayers, indicating the dominant role of surface trap states in nonradiative recombination of the electron-hole pairs.

Considering energy band alignment and polarization effect, ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films are proposed as the photoanode in a monolithic cell to achieve unassisted photocatalytic water splitting. Significant anodic photocurrent was observed in our epitaxial ferroelectric BiFeO3 films prepared from sputter deposition. Both negative polarization charges and thinner films were found to promote the anodic photocatalytic reaction. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy proved that the conduction and valence band edges of BiFeO3 straddle the water redox levels. Theoretical analyses show that the large switchable polarization can modify the surface properties to promote the hydrogen and oxygen evolutions on the surfaces with positive and negative polarization charges, respectively.

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