Silicon nanowires have been identified as important components for future electronic and sensor nanodevices. So far gold has dominated as the catalyst for growing Si nanowires via the vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. Unfortunately, gold traps electrons and holes in Si and poses a serious contamination problem for Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing. Although there are some reports on the use of non-gold catalysts for Si nanowire growth, either the growth requires high temperatures and/or the catalysts are not compatible with CMOS requirements. From a technological standpoint, a much more attractive catalyst material would be aluminium, as it is a standard metal in Si process lines. Here we report for the first time the epitaxial growth of Al-catalysed Si nanowires and suggest that growth proceeds via a vapour-solid-solid (VSS) rather than a VLS mechanism. It is also found that the tapering of the nanowires can be strongly reduced by lowering the growth temperature.

Large-scale CdS nanowires were achieved by a new, simple, and low cost process based on thermal evaporation of CdS powders under controlled conditions with the presence of Au catalyst. The synthesized CdS nanowires have lengths up to several tens of micrometers and diameters about 60−80 nm. The growth of CdS nanowires is controlled by the conventional vapor−liquid−solid (VLS) mechanism. A strong red emission with a maximum around 750 nm was observed from the synthesized CdS nanowires at room temperature, which was attributed to their surface states. The technique we used is, in principle, generalizable as a means of fabricating other group II−VI semiconductor nanowires.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) with excellent properties has been widely reported in recent years. However, it is a great challenge to achieve p-type conductivity in MoS 2 because of its native stubborn n-type conductivity. Substitutional transition metal doping has been proved to be an effective approach to tune their intrinsic properties and enhance device performance. Herein, we report the growth of Nb-doping large-area monolayer MoS 2 by a one-step salt-assisted chemical vapor deposition method. Electrical measurements indicate that Nb doping suppresses ntype conductivity in MoS 2 and shows an ambipolar transport behavior after annealing under the sulfur atmosphere, which highlights the p-type doping effect via Nb, corresponding to the density functional theory calculations with Fermi-level shifting to valence band maximum. This work provides a promising approach of two-dimensional materials in electronic and optoelectronic applications.

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To bridge the gap between laboratory research and commercial applications, it is vital to develop scalable methods to produce large quantities of high-quality and solution-processable few-layer phosphorene (FLBP). Here, we report an ultrafast cathodic expansion (in minutes) of bulk black phosphorus in the nonaqueous electrolyte of tetraalkylammonium salts that allows for the high-yield (>80%) synthesis of nonoxidative few-layer BP flakes with high crystallinity in ambient conditions. Our detailed mechanistic studies reveal that cathodic intercalation and subsequent decomposition of solvated cations result in the ultrafast expansion of BP toward the high-yield production of FLBP. The FLBPs thus obtained show negligible structural deterioration, excellent electronic properties, great solution processability, and high air stability, which allows us to prepare stable BP inks (2 mg/mL) in low-boiling point solvents for large-area inkjet printing and fabrication of optoelectronic devices.

Flexible free-standing CuO nanosheets (NSs)/reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) hybrid lamellar paper was fabricated through vacuum filtration and hydrothermal reduction processes. A unique three-dimensional nanoporous network was achieved with CuO NSs homogeneously embedded within the r-GO layers. This hybrid lamellar composite paper was examined as a binder-free anode for lithium ion batteries, and demonstrated excellent cyclic retention with the specific capacity of 736.8 mA h g(-1) after 50 cycles. This is much higher than 219.1 mA h g(-1) of the pristine CuO NSs and 60.2 mA h g(-1) of r-GO film at the same current density of 67 mA g(-1). The high capacitance and excellent cycling performance were generated from the integrated nanoporous structure compose of CuO NSs spaced r-GO layers, which offered an efficient electrically conducting channels, favored electrolyte penetration, and buffered to the volume variations during the lithiation and delithiation process. These outstanding electrochemical capabilities of CuO NSs/r-GO paper holds great promise for flexible binder-free anode for lithium ion batteries.

Hybrid lamellar porous electrodes with excellent electrochemical performance were successfully fabricated by homogeneously intercalating single-walled carbon nanotubes into the lamellar assembled WS2 nanosheets through vacuum filtration.

Large-scale copper nanowires have been fabricated by potentiostatic electrochemical deposition (ECD) of copper sulphate solution within the nanochannels of porous anodic alumina templates. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction and x-ray diffraction techniques were used to characterize the copper nanowires obtained. It is found that the individual copper nanowires are dense and continuous, with uniform diameters (60 nm) along the entire lengths of the wires (30 µm). The single-crystal and polycrystal copper nanowires can be prepared by choosing suitable applied potentials in the copper ECD processes. Moreover, the formation of copper oxides in nanochannels is also discussed in detail. The investigation results reveal that a lower overpotential is necessary to fabricate copper nanowires with fine crystalline structures by the potentiostatic ECD technique.