Despite being only one-atom thick, defect-free graphene is considered to be completely impermeable to all gases and liquids [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . This conclusion is based on theory 3-8 and supported by experiments 1,9,10 that could not detect gas permeation through micrometre-size membranes within a detection limit of 10 5 to 10 6 atoms per second. Here, using small monocrystalline containers tightly sealed with graphene, we show that defect-free graphene is impermeable with an accuracy of eight to nine orders of magnitude higher than in the previous experiments. We could discern permeation of just a few helium atoms per hour, and this detection limit is also valid for all other tested gases (neon, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, krypton and xenon), except for hydrogen. Hydrogen shows noticeable permeation, even though its molecule is larger than helium and should experience a higher energy barrier. The puzzling observation is attributed to a two-stage process that involves dissociation of molecular hydrogen at catalytically active graphene ripples, followed by adsorbed atoms flipping to the other side of the graphene sheet with a relatively low activation energy of about 1.0 electronvolt, a value close to that previously reported for proton transport 11,12 . Our work provides a key reference for the impermeability of two-dimensional materials and is important from a fundamental perspective and for their potential applications.From a theory standpoint, monolayer graphene imposes a very high energy barrier for penetration of atoms and molecules. Density-functional-theory calculations predict that the barrier E is at least several eV 2-6 , which should prohibit any gas permeation under ambient conditions. Indeed, one can estimate that at room temperature T it would take longer than the lifetime of the universe to find an atom energetic enough to pierce a defect-free membrane of any realistic size. These expectations agree with experiments that reported no detectable gas permeation through mechanically-exfoliated graphene. The highest sensitivity was achieved using micrometersize wells etched in oxidized silicon wafers, which were sealed with graphene 1,9,10 . In those measurements, a pressurized gas (e.g., helium) could permeate along the SiO 2 layer and gradually fill the microcontainers making so-called 'nanoballoons'. Their consecutive deflation in air could be monitored using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and it was shown that the leakage occurred only along the SiO 2 surface, within several minutes but independently of the number of graphene layers used for the sealing 1 . These studies allowed a conclusion that graphene membranes were impermeable to all gases, at least with the achieved accuracy of 10 5 -10 6 atoms s -1 . This was further corroborated by creating individual atomic-scale defects in graphene nanoballoons, which resulted in their relatively fast deflation/inflation and confirmed the high sensitivity of the method 9,10 .

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Type-II band alignment, a suitable direct gap (1.519 eV), superior optical-absorption (∼105) and a broad spectrum make the GeSe/SnS heterobilayer a promising material for photovoltaic applications.

graphene, however, is problematic for many optoelectronic applications. Semiconducting layered metal dichalcogenides (LMDs) have generated an immense amount of interest, owing to their specific bandgaps in the ≈1-2.4 eV range. [2] Most LMDs undergo a transition from an indirect bandgap material in the multilayer form to a direct bandgap material in the monolayer form and exhibit strong lightmatter interaction at the 2D limit. [3,4] All of these features make 2D LMDs promising materials for several applications, such as transistors [5] and optoelectronic [6] and valleytronic [7] devices. Nonetheless, the finite bandgap of such reported LMDs largely restricts their applications in IR and ultraviolet (UV) photodetection. [8] UV photodetection, particularly in the solar blind range (200 to 280 nm), has great potential in the missile detection, flame alarms, and so forth. However, the lack of wide bandgap LMD materials makes realizing 2D UV photodetectors a challenge.As a new important member of the LMD family, germanium diselenide (GeSe 2 ), with a direct wide bandgap, has many potential applications in UV detection and IR waveguides. [9] Moreover, GeSe 2 exhibits a monoclinic crystal structure, [10] within two crystallographically different types of GeSe 4/2 tetrahedra centered on the Ge1 and Ge2 atoms, as shown in As an important 2D layered metal dichalcogenide, germanium diselenide (GeSe 2 ) with a direct wide bandgap is attracting increasing attention for its potential applications in ultraviolet (UV) detection. However, only few-layer GeSe 2 has been reported to date. Here, a joint theoretical-experimental study on the optical and electronic properties of monolayer GeSe 2 is presented, and monolayer GeSe 2 is shown to have a direct wide bandgap of 2.96 eV. Consequently, monolayer GeSe 2 does not respond to a major fraction of the visible spectrum. Notably, the photofield effect transistors based on the GeSe 2 monolayer show p-type behavior, high responsivity, superior detectivity, and a fast response time, competitive with state-of-the-art UV detectors. In addition to the excellent photoresponse properties, 2D GeSe 2 crystals also exhibit perpendicular optical reversal of the linear dichroism and polarized photodetection under wavelength modulation. Theoretical calculations of the band structure are used to shed light on these experimental results. The findings suggest that 2D GeSe 2 is a promising candidate for highly selective polarization-sensitive UV detection.

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Orthorhombic TMCs are found to be potential auxetics and photocatalysts.

The lack of ferromagnetic (FM) van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures hinders the application of two-dimensional (2D) materials in spintronics, information memories and storage devices. Herein, we find theoretically that 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides-based vdW heterostructures, such as MoS/VS and WS/VS, possess excellent characteristics of stable stacking configurations, FM semiconducting ground states, high Curie temperatures, staggered band alignment and a large band offset. Fortunately, 100% spin-polarized currents at the Fermi level can be achieved under certain positive external electric fields, which can filter the current into a single spin channel. Moreover, the majority channel undergoes the transition from type-II to type-I (type-III) band alignment under the negative (positive) electric field; while the band alignment of the minority channel is robust to the electric field. Our results provide a feasible way to realize 2D TMDs-based FM semiconducting heterostructures for spintronic devices.