As an anisotropic 2D layered material, rhenium disulfide (ReS) has attracted much attention because of its unusual properties and promising applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the low lattice symmetry and interlayer decoupling of ReS make asymmetric growth and out-of-plane growth occur quite easily; therefore, thick flake, dendritic and flower-like structures of ReS have mostly been obtained previously. Here, we report on an approach based on space-confined epitaxial growth for the controlled synthesis of ReS films. Using this approach, large-area and high-quality ReS films with uniform monolayer thickness can grow on a mica substrate. Furthermore, the weak van der Waals interaction between the surface of mica and ReS clusters, which favors surface-confined growth while avoiding out-of-plane growth, is critical for growing ReS with uniform monolayer thickness. The morphological evolution of ReS with the growth temperature reveals that asymmetric growth can be suppressed at relatively low temperatures. A ReS field-effect transistor displayed a current on/off ratio of 10 and an electron mobility of up to 40 cm V s, with outstanding photoresponsivity of 12 A W. This work not only promotes the large-scale employment of ReS in high-performance optoelectronic devices, but also provides a means of controlling the unusual growth behavior of low-lattice-symmetry 2D layered materials.

The development of ultrastable carbon materials for potassium storage poses key limitations caused by the huge volume variation and sluggish kinetics.N itrogen-enriched porous carbons have recently emerged as promising candidates for this application;h owever,r ational control over nitrogen doping is needed to further suppress the long-term capacity fading. Here we propose astrategy based on pyrolysis-etching of apyridine-coordinated polymer for deliberate manipulation of edge-nitrogen doping and specific spatial distribution in amorphous high-surface-area carbons;t he obtained material shows an edge-nitrogen content of up to 9.34 at %, richer N distribution inside the material, and high surface area of 616 m 2 g À1 under ac ost-effective low-temperature carbonization. The optimizedc arbon delivers unprecedented K-storage stability over 6000 cycles with negligible capacity decay (252 mA hg À1 after 4months at 1Ag À1), rarely reported for potassium storage.

Constructing robust nucleation sites with an ultrafine size in a confined environment is essential toward simultaneously achieving superior utilization, high capacity, and long-term durability in Na metal-based energy storage, yet remains largely unexplored. Here, we report a previously unexplored design of spatially confined atomic Sn in hollow carbon spheres for homogeneous nucleation and dendrite-free growth. The designed architecture maximizes Sn utilization, prevents agglomeration, mitigates volume variation, and allows complete alloying-dealloying with high-affinity Sn as persistent nucleation sites, contrary to conventional spatially exposed large-size ones without dealloying. Thus, conformal deposition is achieved, rendering an exceptional capacity of 16 mAh cm −2 in half-cells and long cycling over 7000 hours in symmetric cells. Moreover, the well-known paradox is surmounted, delivering record-high Na utilization (e.g., 85%) and large capacity (e.g., 8 mAh cm −2 ) while maintaining extraordinary durability over 5000 hours, representing an important breakthrough for stabilizing Na anode.

Size tailored black BiVO4 colloids with rich oxygen vacancies were generated via facile laser processing for high performance sodium storage.