Irreversible synthesis of an ultrastrong two-dimensional polymeric material.

Polymers that extend covalently in two dimensions have attracted recent attention1,2 as a means of combining the mechanical strength and in-plane energy conduction of conventional two-dimensional (2D) materials3,4 with the low densities, synthetic processability and organic composition of their one-dimensional counterparts. Efforts so far have proven successful in forms that do not allow full realization of these properties, such as polymerization at flat interfaces5,6 or fixation of monomers in immobilized lattices7-9. Another frequently employed synthetic approach is to introduce microscopic reversibility, at the cost of bond stability, to achieve 2D crystals after extensive error correction10,11. Here we demonstrate a homogenous 2D irreversible polycondensation that results in a covalently bonded 2D polymeric material that is chemically stable and highly processable. Further processing yields highly oriented, free-standing films that have a 2D elastic modulus and yield strength of 12.7 ± 3.8 gigapascals and 488 ± 57 megapascals, respectively. This synthetic route provides opportunities for 2D materials in applications ranging from composite structures to barrier coating materials.

van der Waals Decoration of Ultra-High-Q Silica Microcavities for χ(2)-χ(3) Hybrid Nonlinear Photonics.

Optical nonlinear processes are indispensable in a wide range of applications, including ultrafast lasers, microscopy, and quantum information technologies. Among the diverse nonlinear processes, second-order effects usually overwhelm the higher-order ones, except in centrosymmetric systems, where the second-order susceptibility vanishes to allow the use of the third-order nonlinearity. Here we demonstrate a hybrid photonic platform whereby the balance between second- and third-order susceptibilities can be tuned flexibly. By decorating ultra-high-Q silica microcavities with atomically thin tungsten diselenide, we observe cavity-enhanced second-harmonic generation and sum-frequency generation with continuous-wave excitation at a power level of only a few hundred microwatts. We show that the coexistence of second- and third-order nonlinearities in a single device can be achieved by carefully choosing the size and location of the two-dimensional material. Our approach can be generalized to other types of cavities, unlocking the potential of hybrid systems with controlled nonlinear susceptibilities for novel applications.

Colloidal robotics.

Robots have components that work together to accomplish a task. Colloids are particles, usually less than 100 µm, that are small enough that they do not settle out of solution. Colloidal robots are particles capable of functions such as sensing, computation, communication, locomotion and energy management that are all controlled by the particle itself. Their design and synthesis is an emerging area of interdisciplinary research drawing from materials science, colloid science, self-assembly, robophysics and control theory. Many colloidal robot systems approach synthetic versions of biological cells in autonomy and may find ultimate utility in bringing these specialized functions to previously inaccessible locations. This Perspective examines the emerging literature and highlights certain design principles and strategies towards the realization of colloidal robots.

Discretized hexagonal boron nitride quantum emitters and their chemical interconversion.

Quantum emitters in two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are of significant interest because of their unique photophysical properties, such as single-photon emission at room temperature, and promising applications in quantum computing and communications. The photoemission from hBN defects covers a wide range of emission energies but identifying and modulating the properties of specific emitters remain challenging due to uncontrolled formation of hBN defects. In this study, more than 2000 spectra are collected consisting of single, isolated zero-phonon lines (ZPLs) between 1.59 and 2.25 eV from diverse sample types. Most of ZPLs are organized into seven discretized emission energies. All emitters exhibit a range of lifetimes from 1 to 6 ns, and phonon sidebands offset by the dominant lattice phonon in hBN near 1370 cm-1. Two chemical processing schemes are developed based on water and boric acid etching that generate or preferentially interconvert specific emitters, respectively. The identification and chemical interconversion of these discretized emitters should significantly advance the understanding of solid-state chemistry and photophysics of hBN quantum emission.

Toward Covalent Organic Framework Metastructures.

The bottom-up assembly of periodically ordered structures provides a scalable way for producing metastructured materials with exotic optical and mechanical properties. However, direct self-assembly of small molecules into such metastructures beyond the nanoscale remains an unresolved issue. Here we demonstrate that metastructured assemblies of two-dimensional (2D) polymers, specifically 2D covalent organic frameworks (COFs), can be directly synthesized in solution. We applied 2D COF monomer polycondensation to prepare flower-shaped particles consisting of highly crystalline "petals" with sizes larger than 20 µm. The petal comprises periodically arranged COF nanoflake units with tunable lengths of 490-850 nm, thicknesses about 20 nm, interflake spacing around 14 nm, and Hermans orientation factors up to 0.998. Such a metastructure is mechanically robust and remains almost intact even after full pyrolysis at 900 °C. It also demonstrates unique birefringence and polarization-dependent resonances under visible-near-infrared light not observed in its constituents, 2D COF polycrystals, and with well-defined nanopores of 1.8 nm and the high surface area of 1576 m2/g. Such metastructured particles with nanopores are well-suited as novel particulate optical devices for collecting and storing information about their surroundings that can be easily read out by polarization imaging with high sensitivity, as demonstrated by their explosive detection and anticounterfeiting applications. Self-assembly of 2D polymers into metastructures may become an important method for developing functional materials with unprecedented properties and extensive applications.

Highly Ordered Two-Dimensional MoS2 Archimedean Scroll Bragg Reflectors as Chromatically Adaptive Fibers.

Nanostructured fibers provide a basis for a unique class of multifunctional textiles, composites, and membrane applications, including those capable of chromatic modulating because of their high aspect ratio, surface area, and processing capability. Here in, we utilize two-dimensional (2D) materials including molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) to generate single layer Archimedean scroll fibers, possessing cross sections formed from a single 2D molecular layer. Chemical vapor deposited (CVD) monolayer MoS2 (0.29-0.33% in volume) and 226-259 nm-thick poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were used to create Bragg reflector fibers, exploiting the anisotropic function, exhibiting reflection at 630-709 nm, and verifying the highly ordered nanoinclusions. The Bragg reflectors show a memory response to heating and cooling, which switches the reflection wavelength from 629 to 698 nm. We simulate the reflection and transmission spectra of MoS2/PMMA and MoS2/polydimethylsiloxane layered composites to provide the design of scroll fiber composites using the transfer matrix methods. Moreover, we demonstrate the incorporation of a few-layer CVD hBN into the scroll fiber composite that emits photons at 576 nm. The highly oriented layered structures extend the capability of the fiber nanocomposites to take advantage of anisotropic optical, electrical, and thermal properties unique to 2D materials.

Controlling Photoluminescence Enhancement and Energy Transfer in WS2 :hBN:WS2 Vertical Stacks by Precise Interlayer Distances.

2D semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are endowed with fascinating optical properties especially in their monolayer limit. Insulating hBN films possessing customizable thickness can act as a separation barrier to dictate the interactions between TMDs. In this work, vertical layered heterostructures (VLHs) of WS2 :hBN:WS2 are fabricated utilizing chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown materials, and the optical performance is evaluated through photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Apart from the prohibited indirect optical transition due to the insertion of hBN spacers, the variation in the doping level of WS2 drives energy transfer to arise from the layer with lower quantum efficiency to the other layer with higher quantum efficiency, whereby the total PL yield of the heterosystem is increased and the stack exhibits a higher PL intensity compared to the sum of those in the two WS2 constituents. Such doping effects originate from the interfaces that WS2 monolayers reside on and interact with. The electron density in the WS2 is also controlled and subsequent modulation of PL in the heterostructure is demonstrated by applying back-gated voltages. Other influential factors include the strain in WS2 and temperature. Being able to tune the energy transfer in the VLHs may expand the development of photonic applications in 2D systems.

Autoperforation of 2D materials for generating two-terminal memristive Janus particles.

Graphene and other two-dimensional materials possess desirable mechanical, electrical and chemical properties for incorporation into or onto colloidal particles, potentially granting them unique electronic functions. However, this application has not yet been realized, because conventional top-down lithography scales poorly for producing colloidal solutions. Here, we develop an 'autoperforation' technique that provides a means of spontaneous assembly for surfaces composed of two-dimensional molecular scaffolds. Chemical vapour deposited two-dimensional sheets can autoperforate into circular envelopes when sandwiching a microprinted polymer composite disk of nanoparticle ink, allowing liftoff into solution and simultaneous assembly. The resulting colloidal microparticles have two independently addressable, external Janus faces that we show can function as an intraparticle array of vertically aligned, two-terminal electronic devices. Such particles demonstrate remarkable chemical and mechanical stability and form the basis of particulate electronic devices capable of collecting and storing information about their surroundings, extending nanoelectronics into previously inaccessible environments.

Determining the Optimized Interlayer Separation Distance in Vertical Stacked 2D WS2 :hBN:MoS2 Heterostructures for Exciton Energy Transfer.

The 2D semiconductor monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, WS2 and MoS2 , are grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and assembled by sequential transfer into vertical layered heterostructures (VLHs). Insulating hBN, also produced by CVD, is utilized to control the separation between WS2 and MoS2 by adjusting the layer number, leading to fine-scale tuning of the interlayer interactions within the VLHs. The interlayer interactions are studied by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and are demonstrated to be highly sensitive to the input excitation power. For thin hBN separators (one to two layers), the total PL emission switches from quenching to enhancement by increasing the laser power. Femtosecond broadband transient absorption measurements demonstrate that the increase in PL quantum yield results from Förster energy transfer from MoS2 to WS2 . The PL signal is further enhanced at cryogenic temperatures due to the suppressed nonradiative decay channels. It is shown that (4 ± 1) layers of hBN are optimum for obtaining PL enhancement in the VLHs. Increasing thickness beyond this causes the enhancement factor to diminish, with the WS2 and MoS2 then behaving as isolated noninteracting monolayers. These results indicate how controlling the exciton generation rate influences energy transfer and plays an important role in the properties of VLHs.

Observation of the Marcus Inverted Region of Electron Transfer from Asymmetric Chemical Doping of Pristine (n,m) Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

The concept of electrical energy generation based on asymmetric chemical doping of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) papers is presented. We explore 27 small, organic, electron-acceptor molecules that are shown to tune the output open-circuit voltage (VOC) across three types of pristine SWNT papers with varying (n,m) chirality distributions. A considerable enhancement in the observed VOC, from 80 to 440 mV, is observed for SWNT/molecule acceptor pairs that have molecular volume below 120 Å3 and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energies centered around -0.8 eV. The electron transfer (ET) rate constants driving the VOC generation are shown to vary with the chirality-associated Marcus theory, suggesting that the energy gaps between SWNT and the LUMO of acceptor molecules dictate the ET process. When the ET rate constants and the maximum VOC are plotted versus the LUMO energy of the acceptor organic molecule, volcano-shaped dependencies, characteristic of the Marcus inverted region, are apparent for three distinct sources of SWNT papers with modes in diameter distributions of 0.95, 0.83, and 0.75 nm. This observation, where the ET driving force exceeds reorganization energies, allows for an estimation of the outer-sphere reorganization energies with values as low as 100 meV for the (8,7) SWNT, consistent with a proposed image-charge modified Born energy model. These results expand the fundamental understanding of ET transfer processes in SWNT and allow for an accurate calculation of energy generation through asymmetric doping for device applications.

Evidence for Fast Interlayer Energy Transfer in MoSe2/WS2 Heterostructures.

Strongly bound excitons confined in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are dipoles with a perfect in-plane orientation. In a vertical stack of semiconducting 2D crystals, such in-plane excitonic dipoles are expected to efficiently couple across van der Waals gap due to strong interlayer Coulomb interaction and exchange their energy. However, previous studies on heterobilayers of group 6 transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) found that the exciton decay dynamics is dominated by interlayer charge transfer (CT) processes. Here, we report an experimental observation of fast interlayer energy transfer (ET) in MoSe2/WS2 heterostructures using photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of the transfer rates suggests that the ET is Förster-type involving excitons in the WS2 layer resonantly exciting higher-order excitons in the MoSe2 layer. The estimated ET time of the order of 1 ps is among the fastest compared to those reported for other nanostructure hybrid systems such as carbon nanotube bundles. Efficient ET in these systems offers prospects for optical amplification and energy harvesting through intelligent layer engineering.

Two-dimensional array of particles originating from dipole-dipole interaction as evidenced by potential curve measurements at vertical oil/water interfaces.

We propose a new method to evaluate the interaction potential energy between the particles adsorbed at an oil/water interface as a function of interparticle distance. The method is based on the measurement of the interparticle distance at a vertical oil/water interface, at which the gravitational force is naturally applied to compress the particle monolayer in the in-plane direction. We verified the method by examining whether we obtained the same potential curve upon varying the gravitational acceleration by tilting the interface. The present method is applicable in the force range from ∼0.1 to ∼100 pN, determined by the effective weight of the particles at the interface. The method gives a rather simple procedure to estimate a long range interaction among the particles adsorbed at oil/water interfaces. We applied this method to polystyrene particles at the decane/aqueous surfactant solution interface, and obtained the interparticle potential curves. All the potential curves obtained by the present method indicated that the interparticle repulsion is due to the electrical dipole-dipole interaction based on the negative charge of the particles. The mechanism of the dipole-dipole interaction is further discussed on the basis of the effects of surfactants.

Bayesian Optimization for Controlled Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of WS2.

We applied Bayesian optimization (BO), a machine learning (ML) technique, to optimize the growth conditions of monolayer WS2 using photoluminescence (PL) intensity as the objective function. Through iterative experiments guided by BO, an improvement of 86.6% in PL intensity is achieved within 13 optimization rounds. Statistical analysis revealed the relationships between growth conditions and PL intensity, highlighting the importance of critical conditions, including the tungsten source concentration and Ar flow rate. Furthermore, the effectiveness of BO is demonstrated by comparison with random search, showing its ability to converge to optimal conditions with fewer iterations. This research highlights the potential of ML-driven approaches in accelerating material synthesis and optimization processes, paving the way for advances in two-dimensional (2D) material-based technologies.

Formation of organic color centers in air-suspended carbon nanotubes using vapor-phase reaction.

Organic color centers in single-walled carbon nanotubes have demonstrated exceptional ability to generate single photons at room temperature in the telecom range. Combining the color centers with pristine air-suspended nanotubes would be desirable for improved performance, but all current synthetic methods occur in solution which makes them incompatible. Here we demonstrate the formation of color centers in air-suspended nanotubes using a vapor-phase reaction. Functionalization is directly verified by photoluminescence spectroscopy, with unambiguous statistics from more than a few thousand individual nanotubes. The color centers show strong diameter-dependent emission, which can be explained with a model for chemical reactivity considering strain along the tube curvature. We also estimate the defect density by comparing the experiments with simulations based on a one-dimensional exciton diffusion equation. Our results highlight the influence of the nanotube structure on vapor-phase reactivity and emission properties, providing guidelines for the development of high-performance near-infrared quantum light sources.

A wavelength-induced frequency filtering method for fluorescent nanosensors in vivo.

Fluorescent nanosensors hold the potential to revolutionize life sciences and medicine. However, their adaptation and translation into the in vivo environment is fundamentally hampered by unfavourable tissue scattering and intrinsic autofluorescence. Here we develop wavelength-induced frequency filtering (WIFF) whereby the fluorescence excitation wavelength is modulated across the absorption peak of a nanosensor, allowing the emission signal to be separated from the autofluorescence background, increasing the desired signal relative to noise, and internally referencing it to protect against artefacts. Using highly scattering phantom tissues, an SKH1-E mouse model and other complex tissue types, we show that WIFF improves the nanosensor signal-to-noise ratio across the visible and near-infrared spectra up to 52-fold. This improvement enables the ability to track fluorescent carbon nanotube sensor responses to riboflavin, ascorbic acid, hydrogen peroxide and a chemotherapeutic drug metabolite for depths up to 5.5 ± 0.1 cm when excited at 730 nm and emitting between 1,100 and 1,300 nm, even allowing the monitoring of riboflavin diffusion in thick tissue. As an application, nanosensors aided by WIFF detect the chemotherapeutic activity of temozolomide transcranially at 2.4 ± 0.1 cm through the porcine brain without the use of fibre optic or cranial window insertion. The ability of nanosensors to monitor previously inaccessible in vivo environments will be important for life-sciences research, therapeutics and medical diagnostics.

Diameter Dependence of Water Filling in Lithographically Segmented Isolated Carbon Nanotubes.

Although the structure and properties of water under conditions of extreme confinement are fundamentally important for a variety of applications, they remain poorly understood, especially for dimensions less than 2 nm. This problem is confounded by the difficulty in controlling surface roughness and dimensionality in fabricated nanochannels, contributing to a dearth of experimental platforms capable of carrying out the necessary precision measurements. In this work, we utilize an experimental platform based on the interior of lithographically segmented, isolated single-walled carbon nanotubes to study water under extreme nanoscale confinement. This platform generates multiple copies of nanotubes with identical chirality, of diameters from 0.8 to 2.5 nm and lengths spanning 6 to 160 µm, that can be studied individually in real time before and after opening, exposure to water, and subsequent water filling. We demonstrate that, under controlled conditions, the diameter-dependent blue shift of the Raman radial breathing mode (RBM) between 1 and 8 cm-1 measures an increase in the interior mechanical modulus associated with liquid water filling, with no response from exterior water exposure. The observed RBM shift with filling demonstrates a non-monotonic trend with diameter, supporting the assignment of a minimum of 1.81 ± 0.09 cm-1 at 0.93 ± 0.08 nm with a nearly linear increase at larger diameters. We find that a simple hard-sphere model of water in the confined nanotube interior describes key features of the diameter-dependent modulus change of the carbon nanotube and supports previous observations in the literature. Longer segments of 160 µm show partial filling from their ends, consistent with pore clogging. These devices provide an opportunity to study fluid behavior under extreme confinement with high precision and repeatability.

A Fiber Optic Interface Coupled to Nanosensors: Applications to Protein Aggregation and Organic Molecule Quantification.

Fluorescent nanosensors hold promise to address analytical challenges in the biopharmaceutical industry. The monitoring of therapeutic protein critical quality attributes such as aggregation is a long-standing challenge requiring low detection limits and multiplexing of different product parameters. However, general approaches for interfacing nanosensors to the biopharmaceutical process remain minimally explored to date. Herein, we design and fabricate a integrated fiber optic nanosensor element, measuring sensitivity, response time, and stability for applications to the rapid process monitoring. The fiber optic-nanosensor interface, or optode, consists of label-free nIR fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotube transducers embedded within a protective yet porous hydrogel attached to the end of the fiber waveguide. The optode platform is shown to be capable of differentiating the aggregation status of human immunoglobulin G, reporting the relative fraction of monomers and dimer aggregates with sizes 5.6 and 9.6 nm, respectively, in under 5 min of analysis time. We introduce a lab-on-fiber design with potential for at-line monitoring with integration of 3D-printed miniaturized sensor tips having high mechanical flexibility. A parallel measurement of fluctuations in laser excitation allows for intensity normalization and significantly lower noise level (3.7 times improved) when using lower quality lasers, improving the cost effectiveness of the platform. As an application, we demonstrate the capability of the fully integrated lab-on-fiber system to rapidly monitor various bioanalytes including serotonin, norepinephrine, adrenaline, and hydrogen peroxide, in addition to proteins and their aggregation states. These results in total constitute an effective form factor for nanosensor-based transducers for applications in industrial process monitoring.

Colloidal nanoelectronic state machines based on 2D materials for aerosolizable electronics.

A previously unexplored property of two-dimensional electronic materials is their ability to graft electronic functionality onto colloidal particles to access local hydrodynamics in fluids to impart mobility and enter spaces inaccessible to larger electronic systems. Here, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of fully autonomous state machines built onto SU-8 particles powered by a two-dimensional material-based photodiode. The on-board circuit connects a chemiresistor circuit element and a memristor element, enabling the detection and storage of information after aerosolization, hydrodynamic propulsion to targets over 0.6 m away, and large-area surface sensing of triethylamine, ammonia and aerosolized soot in inaccessible locations. An incorporated retroreflector design allows for facile position location using laser-scanning optical detection. Such state machines may find widespread application as probes in confined environments, such as the human digestive tract, oil and gas conduits, chemical and biosynthetic reactors, and autonomous environmental sensors.

Correction: Thermal dissociation of inter-layer excitons in MoS2/MoSe2 hetero-bilayers.

Correction for 'Thermal dissociation of inter-layer excitons in MoS2/MoSe2 hetero-bilayers' by Shinichiro Mouri et al., Nanoscale, 2017, DOI: 10.1039/c7nr01598d.

Thermal dissociation of inter-layer excitons in MoS2/MoSe2 hetero-bilayers.

We describe photoluminescence (PL), PL excitation, and time-resolved PL spectroscopy of hetero-bilayers comprising monolayers (1L) of MoS2 and MoSe2 at cryogenic temperatures. A PL peak showing a decay time of 2.5 ns was observed below 100 K, which can be attributed to an inter-layer exciton emission in the 1L-MoS2/1L-MoSe2 hetero-bilayers. An inter-layer exciton binding energy of ∼90 meV is determined from its thermal dissociation behavior; the band offset of each layer obtained from this value is consistent with previously reported first-principles calculations. Moreover, generation of inter-layer charged excitons (trions) is implied from the gate modulation of the inter-layer exciton PL spectra.