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Thickness-dependent bandgap and carrier mobility of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) layered materials make them a promising material as a phototransistor that detects light signals and converts them to electrical signals. Thus far, to achieve a high photoresponsivity of 2D materials, enormous efforts have been made via material and dielectric engineering, as well as modifying device structure. Nevertheless, understanding the effect of interplay between the thickness and the carrier mobility to photoresponsivity is little known. Here, we demonstrate the tunable photoresponsivity (R) of 2D multilayer rhenium disulfide (ReS2), which is an attractive candidate for photodetection among 2D vdW materials owing to its layer-independent direct bandgap and decoupled vdW interaction. The gate bias (VG)-dependent photocurrent generation mechanism and R are presented for the channel thickness range of 1.7–27.5 nm. The high similarity between VG-dependent photocurrent and transconductance features in the ReS2 phototransistors clearly implies the importance of the channel thickness and the operating VG bias condition. Finally, the maximum R was found to be 4.1 × 105 A/W at 14.3 nm with the highest carrier mobility of ∼15.7 cm2⋅V−1⋅s−1 among the fabricated devices after excluding the contact resistance effect. This work sheds light on the strategy of how to obtain the highest R in 2D vdW-based phototransistors.

The fabrication of a stretchable single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter array and ring oscillators is reported. The SWCNT CMOS inverter exhibits static voltage transfer characteristics with a maximum gain of 8.9 at a supply voltage of 5 V. The fabricated devices show stable electrical performance under the maximum strain of 30% via forming wavy configurations. In addition, the 3-stage ring oscillator demonstrates a stable oscillator frequency of ∼3.5 kHz at a supply voltage of 10 V and the oscillating waveforms are maintained without any distortion under cycles of pre-strain and release. The strains applied to the device upon deformation are also analyzed by using the classical lamination theory, estimating the local strain of less than 0.6% in the SWCNT channel and Pd electrode regions which is small enough to keep the device performance stable under the pre-strain up to 30%. This work demonstrates the potential application of stretchable SWCNT logic circuit devices in future wearable electronics.

Nanofiber non-woven mats of gelatin/poly(l-lactic acid) composites were fabricated by electrospinning. The mechanical strength of the composite mats was much larger than that of the gelatin nanofiber mat. Mesenchymal stem cells adhered and proliferated well on the present composite mats.

Ultrathin sheets of two-dimensional (2D) materials like transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted strong attention as components of high-performance light-harvesting devices. Here, we report the implementation of Schottky junction-based photovoltaic devices through site-selective surface doping of few-layer WSe in lateral contact configuration. Specifically, whereas the drain region is covered by a strong molecular p-type dopant (NDP-9) to achieve an Ohmic contact, the source region is coated with an AlO layer, which causes local n-type doping and correspondingly an increase of the Schottky barrier at the contact. By scanning photocurrent microscopy using green laser light, it could be confirmed that photocurent generation is restricted to the region around the source contact. The local photoinduced charge separation is associated with a photoresponsivity of up to 20 mA W and an external quantum efficiency of up to 1.3%. The demonstrated device concept should be easily transferrable to other van der Waals 2D materials.

Thermoelectric modules were fabricated from p-type and n-type SWCNT composite papers, and were demonstrated as efficient thermoelectric materials.

Endosulfan has been listed as a persistent organic pollutant, and is frequently found in agricultural environments during monitoring processes owing to its heavy use and persistent characteristics. This study was conducted to understand the effects of endosulfan on the development of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos by exposing them to a specific range of endosulfan concentrations. Exposing zebrafish embryos to endosulfan for 96 h yielded no acute toxicity until the concentration reached 1500 μg L −1 , whereas malformed zebrafish larvae developed severely curved spines and shortened tails. About 50% of zebrafish larvae were malformed when exposed to 600 μg L −1 of endosulfan. Comparative gene expression using realtime quantitative polymerase chain reaction was assessed using endosulfan-exposed zebrafish embryos. CYP1A and CYP3A were significantly enhanced in response to endosulfan treatment. Two genes, acacb and fasn, encoding acetyl-CoA carboxylase b and fatty acid synthase proteins, respectively, were also up-regulated after treating zebrafish embryos with endosulfan. These genes are also involved in fatty acid biosynthesis. The genes encoding vitellogenin and Hsp70 increased in a concentration-dependent manner in embryos. Finally, biochemical studies showed that acetylcholinesterase activity was reduced, whereas glutathione S-transferase and carboxylesterase activities were enhanced in zebrafish embryos after endosulfan treatment. These biochemical and molecular biological differences might be used for tools to determine contamination of endosulfan in the aquatic environment.

For reliable characterization of two-dimensional semiconducting devices and continuous monitoring in toxic environments, construction of an electrical characterization-based massive database using a portable source measure unit (SMU) with a WiFi connection is desirable. The web-drive based SMU using a microcontroller developed here exhibits superior voltage source performance (∼1 mV) and voltage/current measurement (∼0.15 mV/∼1 nA) capabilities, with automatic construction of a measurement database for online storage using web-drive based software, which can be applied for reliable electrical characterization. Electrical characterization of ionic liquid-gated MoS2 transistors was achieved with the designed SMU and showed results comparable with those obtained using a commercial semiconductor characterization system. Ionic liquid-gated transistors only require a small gate bias (∼1.5 V) for on-state operation because of the high gate capacitance originating from the thin dielectric layer constructed of an electrical double layer, which makes the device a promising candidate for low power consumption applications. Finally, several electrical parameters of the ionic liquid-gated transistor were extracted from the datasets and uploaded to the web-drive.