Publications

The paper presents a study on the fabrication of a lightweight acoustic hyperbolic paraboloid (HyPar) diaphragm using self-assembly nanoarchitectonics. The diaphragm is composed of a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) network combined with graphene oxide (GO) nanolayers. Spray coating is employed as a fabrication method, providing a simple and cost-effective approach to create large-scale curved diaphragms. The results demonstrate that the PAN/GO diaphragm exhibits acoustic performance comparable to a commercially available banana pulp diaphragm while significantly reducing weight and thickness. Notably, the graphene-based diaphragm is 15 times thinner and 8 times lighter than the commercial banana pulp diaphragm. This thinner and lighter nature of the graphene-based diaphragm offers advantages in applications where weight and size constraints are critical, such as in portable audio devices or acoustic sensors.

The discovery of the intrinsic magnetic order in single-layer chromium trihalides (CrX3, X = I, Br, and Cl) has drawn intensive interest due to their potential application in spintronic devices. However, the notorious environmental instability of this class of materials under ambient conditions renders their device fabrication and practical application extremely challenging. Here, we performed a systematic investigation of the degradation chemistry of chromium iodide (CrI3), the most studied among CrX3 families, via a joint spectroscopic and microscopic analysis of the structural and composition evolution of bulk and exfoliated nanoflakes in different environments. Unlike other air-sensitive 2D materials, CrI3 undergoes a pseudo-first-order hydrolysis in the presence of pure water toward the formation of amorphous Cr(OH)3 and hydrogen iodide (HI) with a rate constant of kI = 0.63 day-1 without light. In contrast, a faster pseudo-first-order surface oxidation of CrI3 occurs in a pure O2 environment, generating CrO3 and I2 with a large rate constant of kCr = 4.2 day-1. Both hydrolysis and surface oxidation of CrI3 can be accelerated via light irradiation, resulting in its ultrafast degradation in air. The new chemical insights obtained allow for the design of an effective stabilization strategy for CrI3 with preserved optical and magnetic properties. The use of organic acid solvents (e.g., formic acid) as reversible capping agents ensures that CrI3 nanoflakes remain stable beyond 1 month due to the effective suppression of both hydrolysis and oxidation of CrI3.

Few-layer black phosphorus was recently rediscovered as a narrow-bandgap atomically thin semiconductor and has already attracted unprecedented attention due to its interesting properties. One feature of this material that sets it apart from other atomically thin crystals is its structural in-plane anisotropy which manifests in strongly anisotropic transport characteristics. However, traditional angle-resolved conductance measurements present a challenge for nanoscale systems such as black phosphorus, calling for new approaches in precision studies of transport anisotropy. Here we show that the nonlocal response, being exponentially sensitive to the anisotropy value, provides a powerful tool for determining the anisotropy. This is established by combining measurements of the orientation-dependent nonlocal resistance response with the analysis based on the anamorphosis relations. We demonstrate that the nonlocal response can differ by orders of magnitude for different crystallographic directions even when the anisotropy is at most order-one, allowing us to extract accurate anisotropy values.

The functionality of graphene and other two-dimensional materials in electronic devices is highly influenced by the film-substrate charge transfer affecting local carrier density. We demonstrate that charges buried under the few layer graphene on/in the insulating substrate can be detected using electromechanical actuation of the conductive atomically thin layers, allowing measurements of areal density of film-substrate transferred charges under few layer graphene and MoS2 suspended films.

Deep learning (DL) methodologies have led to significant advancements in various domains, facilitating intricate data analysis and enhancing predictive accuracy and data generation quality through complex algorithms. In materials science, the extensive computational demands associated with high-throughput screening techniques such as density functional theory, coupled with limitations in laboratory production, present substantial challenges for material research. DL techniques are poised to alleviate these challenges by reducing the computational costs of simulating material properties and by generating novel materials with desired attributes. This comprehensive review document explores the current state of DL applications in materials design, with a particular emphasis on two-dimensional materials. The article encompasses an in-depth exploration of data-driven approaches in both forward and inverse design within the realm of materials science.

We report a scalable process of making highly conductive graphene-based glass fibre rovings and their integration into a vacuum infused epoxy–glass fabric composite. We then demonstrate the potential use of as prepared composites for de-icing applications.

No abstract is provided for this article.

Multifunctional wearable e-textiles have been a focus of much attention due to their great potential for healthcare, sportswear, fitness, space, and military applications. Among them, electroconductive textile yarn shows great promise for use as next-generation flexible sensors without compromising the properties and comfort of usual textiles. However, the current manufacturing process of metal-based electroconductive textile yarn is expensive, unscalable, and environmentally unfriendly. Here we report a highly scalable and ultrafast production of graphene-based flexible, washable, and bendable wearable textile sensors. We engineer graphene flakes and their dispersions in order to select the best formulation for wearable textile application. We then use a high-speed yarn dyeing technique to dye (coat) textile yarn with graphene-based inks. Such graphene-based yarns are then integrated into a knitted structure as a flexible sensor and could send data wirelessly to a device via a self-powered RFID or a low-powered Bluetooth. The graphene textile sensor thus produced shows excellent temperature sensitivity, very good washability, and extremely high flexibility. Such a process could potentially be scaled up in a high-speed industrial setup to produce tonnes (∼1000 kg/h) of electroconductive textile yarns for next-generation wearable electronics applications.

When sweeping the carrier concentration in monolayer graphene through the charge neutrality point, the experimentally measured Hall resistivity shows a smooth zero crossing. Using a two- component model of coexisting electrons and holes around the charge neutrality point, we unambiguously show that both types of carriers are simultaneously present. For high magnetic fields up to 30 T the electron and hole concentrations at the charge neutrality point increase with the degeneracy of the zero-energy Landau level which implies a quantum Hall metal state at \nu=0 made up by both electrons and holes.

. Ellinaite, a natural analog of the post-spinel phase β-CaCr2O4, was discovered at the Hatrurim Basin, Hatrurim pyrometamorphic formation (the Mottled Zone), Israel, and in an inclusion within the super-deep diamond collected at the placer of the Sorriso River, Juína kimberlite field, Brazil. Ellinaite at the Hatrurim Basin is confined to a reduced rankinite–gehlenite paralava, where it occurs as subhedral grains up to 30 µm in association with gehlenite, rankinite and pyrrhotite or forms the rims overgrowing zoned chromite–magnesiochromite. The empirical formula of the Hatrurim sample is (Ca0.960Fe0.0162+Na0.012Mg0.003)0.992(Cr1.731V0.1833+Ti0.0683+Al0.023Ti0.0034+)2.008O4. The mineral crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pnma, unit-cell parameters refined from X-ray single-crystal data: a 8.868(9), b 2.885(3), c 10.355(11) Å, V 264.9(5) Å3 and Z=4. The crystal structure of ellinaite from the Hatrurim Basin has been solved and refined to R1=0.0588 based on 388 independent observed reflections. Ellinaite in the Juína diamond occurs within the micron-sized polyphase inclusion in association with ferropericlase, magnesioferrite, orthorhombic MgCr2O4, unidentified iron carbide and graphite. Its empirical formula is Ca1.07(Cr1.71Fe0.063+V0.06Ti0.03Al0.03Mg0.02Mn0.02)Σ1.93O4. The unit-cell parameters obtained from HRTEM data are as follows: space group Pnma, a 9.017, b 2.874 Å, c 10.170 Å, V 263.55 Å3, Z=4. Ellinaite belongs to a group of natural tunnel-structured oxides of the general formula AB2O4, the so-called post-spinel minerals: marokite CaMn2O4, xieite FeCr2O4, harmunite CaFe2O4, wernerkrauseite CaFe23+Mn4+O6, chenmingite FeCr2O4, maohokite MgFe2O4 and tschaunerite Fe(FeTi)O4. The mineral from both occurrences seems to be crystallized under highly reduced conditions at high temperatures (>1000 ∘C), but under different pressure: near-surface (Hatrurim Basin) and lower mantle (Juína diamond).

The isolation of various two-dimensional (2D) materials, and the possibility to combine them in vertical stacks, has created a new paradigm in materials science: heterostructures based on 2D crystals. Such a concept has already proven fruitful for a number of electronic applications in the area of ultrathin and flexible devices. Here, we expand the range of such structures to photoactive ones by using semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs)/graphene stacks. Van Hove singularities in the electronic density of states of TMDC guarantees enhanced light-matter interactions, leading to enhanced photon absorption and electron-hole creation (which are collected in transparent graphene electrodes). This allows development of extremely efficient flexible photovoltaic devices with photoresponsivity above 0.1 ampere per watt (corresponding to an external quantum efficiency of above 30%).

In electron microscopy, charging of non-conductive biological samples by focused electron beams hinders their high-resolution imaging. Gold or platinum coatings have been commonly used to prevent such sample charging, but it disables further quantitative and qualitative chemical analyses by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Here we report that graphene-coating on biological samples enables non-destructive high-resolution imaging by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as chemical analysis by EDS, utilizing graphene's transparency to electron beams, high conductivity, outstanding mechanical strength, and flexibility. We believe that the graphene-coated imaging and analysis would provide us a new opportunity to explore various biological phenomena unseen before due to the limitation in sample preparation and image resolution, which will broaden our understanding on the life mechanism of various living organisms.

No abstract is provided for this article.

No abstract is provided for this article.

There is an increasing amount of literature concerning electronic properties of graphene close to the neutrality point. Many experiments continue using the two-probe geometry or invasive contacts or do not control samples’ macroscopic homogeneity. We believe that it is helpful to point out some problems related to such measurements. By using experimental examples, we illustrate that the charge inhomogeneity induced by spurious chemical doping or metal contacts can lead to large systematic errors in assessing graphene’s transport properties and, in particular, its minimal conductivity. The problems are most severe in the case of two-probe measurements where the contact resistance is found to strongly vary as a function of gate voltage.