A Universal, Rapid Method for Clean Transfer of Nanostructures onto Various Substrates

Transfer and integration of nanostructures onto target substrates is the prerequisite for their fundamental studies and practical applications. Conventional transfer techniques that involve stamping, lift-off, and/or striping suffer from the process-specific drawbacks, such as the requirement for chemical etchant or high-temperature annealing and the introduction of surface discontinuities and/or contaminations that can greatly hinder the properties and functions of the transferred materials. Herein, we report a universal and rapid transfer method implementable at mild conditions. Nanostructures with various dimensionalities (<i>i.e.</i>, nanoparticles, nanowires, and nanosheets) and surface properties (<i>i.e.</i>, hydrophilic and hydrophobic) can be easily transferred to diverse substrates including hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and flexible surfaces with good fidelity. Importantly, our method ensures the rapid and clean transfer of two-dimensional materials and allows for the facile fabrication of vertical heterostructures with various compositions used for electronic devices. We believe that our method can facilitate the development of nanoelectronics by accelerating the clean transfer and integration of low-dimensional materials into multidimensional structures

Stretchable, Washable, and Anti-Ultraviolet i‑Textile-Based Wearable Device for Motion Monitoring

Smart textiles with multifunction and highly stable performance are essential for their application in wearable electronics. Despite the advancement of various smart textiles through the decoration of conductive materials on textile surfaces, improving their stability and functionality remains a challenging topic. In this study, we developed an ionic textile (i-textile) with air permeability, water resistance, UV resistance, and sensing capabilities through in situ photopolymerization of ionogel onto the textile surface. The i-textile presents air permeability comparable to that of bare textile while possessing enhanced UV resistance. Remarkably, the i-textile maintains excellent electrical properties after washing 20 times or being subjected to 300 stretching cycles at 30% tension. When applied to human joint motion detection, the i-textile-based sensors can effectively distinguish joint motion based on their sensitivity and response speed. This research presents a novel method for developing smart textiles that further advances wearable electronics

AuAg Nanosheets Assembled from Ultrathin AuAg Nanowires

Assembly of noble metal nanocrystals into free-standing two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures with a regular shape is still a challenge. Here we report the preparation of a novel 2D AuAg nanosheet with length of 1.50 ± 0.30 μm, width of 510 ± 160 nm, and thickness of ∼100 nm via the assembly of ultrathin AuAg nanowires in the presence of the triblock copolymer Pluronic P123. The self-assembly of P123 and the fusion behavior of the nanowires during the assembly process are the key reasons for the formation of AuAg nanosheets in P123. Furthermore, the obtained AuAg nanosheet@​P123 is used as the active material in a memory device that exhibits the write-once-read-many-times memory behavior

Coating Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials with Metal–Organic Frameworks

We demonstrate the coating of various 2D nanomaterials including MoS₂ nanosheets, graphene oxide (GO), and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (<i>i.e.</i>, ZIF-8) <i>via</i> a facile procedure. Additionally, ternary core–shell structures like Pt-MoS₂@ZIF-8, Pt-GO@ZIF-8, and Pt-rGO@ZIF-8 have also been prepared. As a proof-of-concept application, a memory device based on MoS₂@ZIF-8 hybrid was fabricated and it exhibited write-once-read-many-times (WORM) memory effect with high ON/OFF ratio and long operating lifetime. It is expected that MOF coated 2D nanomaterials may find wide applications in energy storage and conversion, catalysis, sensing, and information storage devices

Interdiffusion Reaction-Assisted Hybridization of Two-Dimensional Metal–Organic Frameworks and Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> Nanosheets for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution

Two-dimensional (2D) metal–organic framework (MOF) nanosheets have been recently regarded as the model electrocatalysts due to their porous structure, fast mass and ion transfer through the thickness, and large portion of exposed active metal centers. Combining them with electrically conductive 2D nanosheets is anticipated to achieve further improved performance in electrocatalysis. In this work, we <i>in situ</i> hybridized 2D cobalt 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate (CoBDC) with Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> (the MXene phase) nanosheets <i>via</i> an interdiffusion reaction-assisted process. The resulting hybrid material was applied in the oxygen evolution reaction and achieved a current density of 10 mA cm^–2 at a potential of 1.64 V <i>vs</i> reversible hydrogen electrode and a Tafel slope of 48.2 mV dec^–1 in 0.1 M KOH. These results outperform those obtained by the standard IrO₂-based catalyst and are comparable with or even better than those achieved by the previously reported state-of-the-art transition-metal-based catalysts. While the CoBDC layer provided the highly porous structure and large active surface area, the electrically conductive and hydrophilic Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> nanosheets enabled the rapid charge and ion transfer across the well-defined Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i>–CoBDC interface and facilitated the access of aqueous electrolyte to the catalytically active CoBDC surfaces. The hybrid nanosheets were further fabricated into an air cathode for a rechargeable zinc–air battery, which was successfully used to power a light-emitting diode. We believe that the <i>in situ</i> hybridization of MXenes and 2D MOFs with interface control will provide more opportunities for their use in energy-based applications