The high‐contrast optical imaging of nearly transparent 2D materials such as clays and some oxide sheets has been an outstanding challenge; yet there is a critical research capability needed in the synthesis and processing of these materials, which show promise in a number of applications including barrier coatings, membranes, and composites. Using delaminated silicate clay and titania sheets as model

Supercapacitors (SCs) have experienced a significant increase in research activity and commercialization during the past few decades. As the primary and most important electrode active material for commercial SCs, porous carbon is produced at an industrial‐scale through traditional carbonization‐activation strategies. Nevertheless, commercial porous carbon materials have some disadvantages such as

Protein sequencing holds the key to unveiling protein dynamics, which is significant for molecular diagnostics and drug design. Single‐molecule sensing based on 2D nanopores is a versatile technique for realizing low‐cost and high‐throughput protein sequencing targets. However, the remaining challenge is that protein translocates rapidly through nanopores, where few current signals can be gathered

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, with high theoretical energy density and the low cost of sulfur, have the most appeal as the successor to lithium‐ion batteries. Their performance to date is however undermined by the redox shuttling of dissolved polysulfides between the cathode and anode during battery cycling. Though substantial improvements are made with the use of solid additives, which are described

Ammonia (NH3) electrosynthesis gains significant attention as NH3 is essentially important for fertilizer production and fuel utilization. However, electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) remains a great challenge because of low activity and poor selectivity. Herein, a new class of atomically dispersed Ni site electrocatalyst is reported, which exhibits the optimal NH3 yield of 115 µg cm−2

A conversion‐reaction‐based nanosized Cu2P2O7–carbon composite is investigated as a novel cathode material with superior capacity for lithium‐ion batteries. To overcome the sluggish kinetics of the conversion reaction, the nanosized Cu2P2O7–carbon composite is prepared by high‐energy ball‐milling of Cu2P2O7 and conductive carbon to achieve simultaneous nanosizing and carbon mixing. The nanosized Cu2P2O7–carbon

Zeolitic‐imidazolate‐frameworks‐8 (ZIF‐8) derivatives have recently been demonstrated as one of the most ideal precursors to prepare single‐atom metal catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, abundant single‐atom metal sites are buried in the derived carbon nanoparticles, rendering them useless for ORR. Here a novel ZIF‐8 “thermal melting” strategy is proposed to prepare a high specific

MAX phases represent a large group of carbide‐ and nitride‐layered ternary compounds. Their general formula is Mn+1AXn, where n = 1–3, M is an early transition metal, A is an A‐group element, and X is either carbon or nitrogen. The MAX phases combine properties of metals (good electrical and thermal conductivity, machinability, low hardness, thermal shock resistance, and damage tolerance) with those

Designed and fabricated flexible high‐performance MnO2 cathode materials are highly desirable for developing advanced rechargeable Zn–MnO2 batteries. In this work, a facile phosphorization process is reported for introducing oxygen defects into phosphate ions intercalated manganese dioxide/vertical multilayer graphene (VMG) arrays, forming an integrated P‐MnO2‐x@VMG cathode. The oxygen defects and

The synergy of life sciences discoveries, biomolecular and protein engineering advances, and groundbreaking nanofabrication technologies, has introduced over the past years the wide use of the nanopore‐based investigations of matter at the molecular level. This review focuses on the fundamental principles of α‐hemolysin (α‐HL) protein‐based nanopores, as sensitive investigative tools that combine single‐molecule

Muscle tissues are characterized by highly organized 3D structures consisting of aligned myocytes and nonmyocytes. Several nano‐ and microfabrication technologies are used to engineer native‐like muscle tissues for muscle regeneration, the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and in vitro disease modeling. In this paper, traditional tissue engineering methods and novel nano‐/microfabrication technologies

The increasing demands of portable, flexible, and wearable electronics have greatly stimulated the development of miniaturized supercapacitors (MSCs) with features of high flexibility, low weight, long lifespan, and safety. The techniques which can effectively incorporate functional nanomaterials into flexible electrodes are extremely important for future wide‐spread applications of MSCs, and thus

Inorganic perovskite CsPbI3 has been studied as a promising alternative light‐absorbing material for photovoltaic application due to its suitable band gap for converting solar light and enhanced stability toward ambient conditions compared to the organic–inorganic halide perovskite. However, the photoactive α‐phase of CsPbI3 can only be stabilized at a high temperature and the phase transition from

It is extremely important to develop nontoxic solvent and additive‐processed high‐performance all‐polymer solar cells (all‐PSCs) that are suitable for printing preparation of large‐scale devices. Herein, it is demonstrates that a simple random copolymerization of two acceptor monomers (benzo[1,2‐c:4,5‐c′]dithiophene‐4,8‐dione (BDD) and 5,6‐difluoro‐2H‐benzo[d][1,2,3]triazole (FTAZ)), alternating with