Borophene, a monolayer of boron atoms, offers unique polymorphism, intrinsic metallicity, and anisotropic transport distinct from graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides. These features enable applications in ultrafast transistors, broadband photodetectors, nonlinear optics, and energy storage. This review highlights recent advances in synthesis, electronic and optical properties, and emerging device applications of borophene. Specifically, we survey nanoelectronic implementations (field-effect transistors, logic circuits, interconnects, flexible electronics, and energy storage systems) as well as optoelectronic applications (broadband photodetection, light emission, nonlinear optics, and photonic modulation). Key challenges, such as air instability, phase control, and integration barriers, are discussed along with strategies including chemical functionalization, encapsulation, and scalable fabrication. Compared with other two-dimensional materials, borophene exhibits exceptional versatility and holds significant potential for next-generation nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and quantum technologies.

We report the magnetotransport properties of zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe5) in the Dirac semimetal phase, focusing on its magnetoresistance behavior at low temperatures. Pronounced Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations were observed in the low magnetic field regime. In the quantum limit, linear magnetoresistance and behavior consistent with a topological phase transition emerge. In-depth analyses of these phenomena and their temperature dependences suggest that both the chemical potential and the Fermi velocity may play an important role in determining the transport properties of ZrTe5 in the quantum limit. Our findings highlight the importance of band parameters in topological transport and provide insights for future studies of topological materials and the design of quantum devices.

Environmental humidity power generation technology is an important strategy to reduce the use of fossil fuels and solve the energy crisis. However, it remains a challenge to maintain a water adsorption gradient for the long-term output of continuous electrical energy when environmental humidity fluctuates. Herein, porous polyoxometalate (POM) nanomaterial [CuII(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)2Cl] n [CuII-(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)2Al(OH)6Mo6O18] n (Cu-CuAlMo6) was used to assemble thin-film devices, which achieved continuous power generation in fluctuating humidity. The device generated stable electrical output (0.203 V, 4 µA cm-2, maximum power density of 0.06 µW cm-2) in 10% humidity, and maintained continuous electrical output (0.246 V, 14.5 µA cm-2, maximum power density of 0.214 µW cm-2) in high humidity, even with condensed water for 8 days. A detectable electrical response was generated within 0.1 s under the humidity trigger and enabled real-time tracking of environmental and chemical information. First-principles calculations elucidated that hygroscopic sites constructed by the oxygen-containing groups and hydrogen bonds in the POM ensured efficient collection of humidity, and confined nanopores maintained the water adsorption gradient under high humidity. In addition, the unique charge transfer mechanism enabled the device to autonomously monitor environmental and chemical information in real-time. This work provides a reliable strategy for developing humidity power generation technology that continuously outputs in fluctuating environmental humidity, and is expected to form important components of multimodal real-time monitoring systems.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have markedly enhanced the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs); however, the desorption of SAMs limits the long-term stability of the devices. Herein, Lindqvist-type polyoxometalates (POMs) [VnW6u2212nO19](n+2)u2212 (n = 1u20133) were incorporated into SAMs. By leveraging vanadium to establish V(V)/V(IV) redox couples, the electron cloud density of the Vu2013Ou2013W bridging oxygens was significantly enhanced, promoting tridentate anchoring between the SAMs and indium tin oxide via proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). This increased the anchoring ratio from 29.93% to 53.98% while reducing the desorption rate from 30.7% to 5.6%. The robustly anchored SAMs facilitate the crystallization of high-quality perovskites and effectively suppress interfacial defects, significantly improving the hole-extraction efficiency and increasing the PCE from 23.68% to 25.15% under continuous AM 1.5 G illumination. Moreover, the device stability was markedly enhanced, with the target retaining 90.7% of its initial efficiency after 1200 h of continuous maximum power point tracking (compared to 53.8% for the control). This study demonstrates that POMs can effectively suppress the desorption of SAMs and reduce interfacial losses, offering new insights for fabricating highly efficient and stable PSCs.

Electrolyte leakage from lithium-ion batteries constitutes a critical safety challenge as volatile and highly flammable organic carbonates can rapidly trigger fire and catastrophic thermal runaway. Diethyl carbonate (DEC), a widely used electrolyte solvent, is particularly hazardous, yet its selective detection under humid and chemically complex conditions remains highly challenging. Herein, an unconventional synthesis strategy is reported that departs fundamentally from traditional metal-ion precursors, employing a polyoxometalate molecular cluster (H4SiW12O40·xH2O, SiW12) as a structure-directing, molecular-level precursor to construct dendritic WO3 nanofibers uniformly decorated with Au nanoparticles (Au-D-WO3) for ultratrace DEC sensing. The POM-guided process directs the in situ formation of defect-rich, hierarchically porous WO3 dendrites, while the concurrent reduction of HAuCl4 generates ultrafine Au NPs anchored on WO3, creating abundant oxygen vacancies and well-defined Au/WO3 Schottky interfaces. Benefiting from synergistic structural hierarchy and interfacial electronic modulation, the sensor exhibits ultratrace sensitivity and high selectivity toward DEC, robust humidity tolerance, and long-term stability. Density functional theory calculations reveal a transition from electrostatic- to hybridization-dominated adsorption at the Au/WO3 interface, accounting for the enhanced and humidity-resilient sensing performance.

Zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) are promising for photodetectors but are limited by surface oxygen vacancies that impair photocurrent and stability. This study addresses this by incorporating the polyoxometalate {Mo-132} into ZnO QDs to modify their electronic properties. {Mo-132} broadens the light absorption range and its multiple redox-active metal centers facilitate efficient multielectron transport. Crucially, this process passivates surface traps and suppresses oxygen vacancy formation, thereby enhancing charge separation and transport. Experimental results confirm that {Mo-132} doping significantly enhances the device performance. The photocurrent increased from 2100 to 2700 mu A in I-T tests. Under an illumination intensity of 80 mW & centerdot;cm(-2) and a bias voltage of 5 V, the responsivity (R) reaches 18.35 mA & centerdot;W-1. Furthermore, device stability was substantially improved, with the photocurrent retaining 81.08% of its initial value after 96 h. XPS measurements verified a significant (11.4%) reduction in the oxygen vacancy concentration. This work demonstrates that the unique molecular-level electronic properties of polyoxometalates offer a novel and effective strategy for developing high-performance, stable photodetectors, broadening their application in optoelectronics.

Persistent illumination inevitably leads to the formation of Pb0 and I0 species in perovskite film, serving as non-radiative recombination centers and thus limiting the process of the commercial application. Herein, we propose a redox strategy to dynamically eliminate the defective Pb0 and I0 generated during device operation using polyoxometalate (POM) as an additive. Benefiting from the reversible W5+/6+ redox activity and the structural stability when accepting and donating electrons from perovskite film, POMs play a role of the redox shuttle that oxidizes Pb0 into Pb2+ and reduces I0 into I-, consequently inhibiting the formation of Pb0 and I0 species and reducing the film defects, which benefits the improvement of stability and performance. As a result, the efficiency of carbon-based all-inorganic CsPbI2Br cell is significantly improved to 15.12% and the efficiency of the organic-inorganic hybrid (Cs0.05MA0.05FA0.9)Pb (I0.93Br0.07)3 cell is also increased to 24.20%. More importantly, the target device shows superior stability under air conditions after storage for 1500 h, high temperature after 750 h, and persistent irradiation over 200 h, respectively, providing a new method for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. (c) 2025 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

Sb2S3 has excellent photovoltaic properties, but the performance of its photovoltaic devices still needs to be improved. The main issues hindering its photovoltaic performance are the poor carrier transport ability and the significant charge recombination. Doping strategies play a key role in addressing these issues. This study investigates the effect of Pb(CH3COO)(2) (Pb) and [Pb(DMF)(7)](2)[SiW12O40] 2DMF (Pb-SiW12) doping on the photovoltaic properties of Sb2S3 thin films. It is found that the intensity of diffraction peaks on the (130) crystal plane of Pb-doped Sb2S3 and the (221) crystal plane of Pb-SiW12@Sb2S3 is increased, which enhances the crystallinity of the films. Meanwhile, Pb and Pb-SiW12 doping narrow the bandgap (1.69 eV) of Sb2S3 to 1.65 eV and 1.62 eV. Electrochemical tests show that the carrier concentration and carrier lifetime are increased. The Pb-doped Sb2S3 photodetector photocurrent of 14 mu A, 7 times higher than the 2 mu A pristine Sb2S3 photodetector. It exhibits a responsivity of 13.9 mA/W and detectivity of 1.2x10(11) Jones. The Pb-SiW12@Sb2S3 photodetector photocurrent is 11 mu A. Pb-SiW12 can immobilize Pb while reducing the amount of Pb. The methodology in this work provides a way to improve the performance of Sb2S3 thin-film photodetectors.

Two-dimensional (2D) carbon-carbon hybrids derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are regarded as an intriguing type of electrode material in electrochemical sensing. In this work, a Co-decorated carbon@nitrogendoped porous carbon heterostructure (Co/C@NC) was prepared via the simple calcination of 2D ZIF-L(Co)@ZIF8. In this MOF-on-MOF precursor, the outer ZIF-8 layer not only prevents the collapse of ZIF-L(Co) during calcination but also endows the outer carbon an extended surface area and porous structure for more accessible active sites and a fast mass transfer process. Meanwhile, the formed CoNPs could facilitate the generation of graphitic carbon layers, which enhances electrocatalytic activity and boosted conductivity. Owing to these merits, the Co/C@NC-based sensor displays high electrochemical activity for acetaminophen (APAP) detection with a wide linear range (4 x 10-7 - 2 x 10-4 M) and a lower detection limit (8.2 x 10-8 M). The constructed sensor has been utilized for the analysis of APAP in real samples, yielding acceptable recovery between 96.6% and 104.0%. This work presents an efficient and convenient method for designing MOF-on-MOF-derived 2D carbon-carbon hybrids, which hold a promising prospect in electrochemical analysis.

In the context of an aging society, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as promising wearable monitoring devices for the elderly owing to their dual functionality in energy harvesting and sensing. However, achieving high power density and long-term stability remains a challenge. Here, three stable triboelectric materials with enhanced surface potential are designed and synthesized using a cation-induced strategy based on ion exchange with Keggin-type PW12 (H3PW12O40nH2O). Among these, the K+-induced rhombic dodecahedral PW12-1 demonstrated optimal performance. The resulting TENG-1 demonstrated a remarkable output voltage of 147.8 V, a current of 716.8 nA, and a power density of 0.193 W m-2, representing a 4.2- to 9.2-fold improvement over pristine PW12. Furthermore, the device displayed exceptional stability, maintaining 95% of its initial performance after 10 000 s and 10-day of continuous testing. Mechanistic studies revealed that the enhanced triboelectric performance is attributed to increased surface roughness (>= 3.46 nm) and elevated surface potential (>= 2.03 V). The optimized TENGs successfully distinguished the various motion patterns of the elderly (walking, sudden stop-continued walking/falling), while providing real-time risk alerts through voltage signals. This study provides valuable insights for the development of advanced wearable smart monitoring systems and contributes to the advancement of intelligent elderly care technologies.

SnO2 demonstrates three critical characteristics for photovoltaic applications, low temperature preparation process, high conductivity and high ultraviolet light stability. These superiorities makes it a preferred choice for high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs) as a charge transport material. However, PSCs based on SnO2 still faces great challenges. Poor interface contact and interface defects are important factors for loss of efficiency and long-term stability. This study demonstrates a synergistic interface engineering in all-inorganic CsPbI2Br solar cells through strategic integration of transition-metal substituted Keggin-type polyoxometalates K6H4[Si-W9O37{Ni(H2O)}3 ({SiW9Ni3}) with SnO2 quantum dots. The SnO2@SiW9Ni3 composite electron transport layer boosts electrical conductivity through enhanced electron mobility channels. {SiW9Ni3} can also passivate interfacial defects via strong chemical bonding between terminal oxygens and undercoordinated Sn4+ and reduce oxygen vacancy defects, effectively suppressing non-radiative recombination. Additionally, perovskite crystallization can be regulated by metal-oxygen coordination, which result in a pinhole-free and high quality film based on SnO2@SiW9Ni3. The target devices achieve a champion PCE of 13.09 % (vs. 10.75 % control) with a remarkable open-circuit voltage (VOC) enhancement from 1.256 V to 1.301 V. At the same time, the optimized devices retain over 90 % initial efficiency after 600 h ambient aging, demonstrating prominent operational stability. This work establishes a polyoxometalate-driven interfacial engineering strategy for advancing highperformance all-inorganic perovskite solar cells.

Due to the higher electrical conductivity, SnO2 becomes a promising material for electron transport layers (ETLs). However, the mismatched energy level and surface defects lead to unsatisfactory contact between the perovskite film and SnO2 layer, which limits its further application. Herein, heteropoly blue (HPB) r-PMo12-xVx (x = 0, 1, 2) is chosen to modify the interface contact between the perovskite layer and the SnO2 layer. The energy level of HPB-modified SnO2 increases from -4.49 to -4.09 eV, which is more suitable with the perovskite layer, thus improving the electron transport. In addition, the introduction of HPBs reduces the oxygen defects on the surface of SnO2, while metal-oxygen bonding in the HPBs can improve the quality of the perovskite film by passivation. As a result, the photocurrent of the photodetector increases from 22.4 to 81.7 mu A, an enhancement of about 3.6 times. In particular, the HPB-modified photodetector can still maintain 90% of the initial performance after 700 h and the stability is significantly improved, providing a good idea for efficient and stable perovskite photodetectors.

Sequential deposition has been demonstrated to provide a maneuverable and reproducible crystallization process for formamidinium-lead triiodide (FAPbI3) perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the uncontrollable PbI2 transformation by organic cations brings great challenges to ideal perovskite films. The state-of-the-art studies predominantly emphasize either PbI2-intermediate phases or the use of FA+-retardants to slow down intramolecular exchange, lacking of comprehensive investigation into bilateral coordination enabled methodical molecular exchange for the rational growth of alpha-FAPbI3 films. In this study, we launch a dual-intermediator strategy involving 1,3-propanediamine (DAP) and 4-aminobutyric acid (GABA) to bilaterally regulate the crystallization kinetics of FAPbI3. This dual-intermediator line synergistically advances efficient and direct alpha-FAPbI3 phase transition with preferred orientation and fewer defects, generating improved energetic alignment and charge transport dynamics in PSCs. Encouragingly, the best PSC free of encapsulation delivers a champion efficiency of 25.52 % and retains 95.2 % efficiency after 1200 h of maximum power point tracking under continuous AM 1.5 G illumination in N2 at 50 degrees C.

Molybdenum blue (MB) clusters show promise for light-dominated low-value energy harvesting due to their broad-spectrum absorption, tunable redox activity, and chemical stability. However, it is not available to date. Herein, a new type of MB wheels Mo160 dimer and the precise synthesis of its monomer analogs Mo80 is reported through an amino acid-mediated assembly strategy. The half-closed octameric frameworks featuring compressed wheels are orderly constructed by two {Mo9/10} and six classical {Mo9} building blocks as well as central {Mo3} or {Mo8} caps. Such structural analogs enable multifunctional light-dominated energy conversion molecular-based devices. Mo160/ethyl cellulose film delivers 430.8 mu A photocurrent and 147.7 mu V photovoltage under AM 1.5G light. When powered by simulated all-weather environment combining light, wind, and rain energy, Mo160 film achieves an ideal output power density of approximate to 0.11 mW m-2 at low impedance (approximate to 10 Omega) with long-term durability, which is 2.58 times higher than that of Mo80 film and even tens of times better than other types of polyoxometalate film. Theoretical investigations focusing on the electronic characteristics of key building blocks in MB clusters have elucidated molecular-level structure-property relationships. This work advances the controlled synthesis of giant polyoxometalates and their implementation in light-dominated low-value energy conversion technologies.

Given the promising applications of large magnetoresistance in the Dirac semimetal cadmium arsenide (Cd3As2), extensive research into Si-compatible Cd3As2 devices is highly desirable. To prevent surface degradation and oxidation, the implementation of a protection layer on Cd3As2 is imperative. In this study, two vastly different protecting layers were prepared on top of two Cd3As2 samples. A zinc telluride layer was grown on top of one Cd3As2 film, giving rise to a ten-fold increased mobility, compared to that of the pristine Cd3As2 sample. Interestingly, unusual negative magnetoresistance is observed in the hexagonal boron nitride-capped Cd3As2 device when a magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the Cd3As2 plane. This is in sharp contrast to the chiral anomaly that requires a magnetic field parallel to the Cd3As2 plane. We suggest that a protection layer on molecular beam epitaxy-grown Cd3As2 should be useful for realising its great device applications in magnetic sensing.

This study presents a method for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NAPC) from nitrogen-rich superabsorbent material (SAP) found in waste baby diapers for application as an electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

SnO2 is widely used in perovskite photodetectors as an electron transport layer material. The matching of the energy levels of SnO2 and perovskite is important in carrier transport. Polyoxovanadates (POVs), as semiconductor-like molecules, exhibit good redox and excellent optical properties, which can regulate the energy band structure of SnO2. Here, K5MnV11O3210H2O (MnV11), K7MnV13O3818H2O (MnV13), (NH4)8[V19O41(OH)9]11H2O (V19), and K10[V34O82]20H2O (V34) were used to modify an SnO2 colloidal solution. Energy level tests demonstrated that the conduction band potential (ECB) of MnV13-modified SnO2 increased from -4.43 to -4.03 eV, which matched more with the energy level of perovskite. This facilitated the extraction and transmission of photogenerated carriers. X-ray diffraction showed that POV-modified SnO2 exhibited better crystallinity. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the grain size of perovskite increased to 580 nm after modification using MnV13. The final results showed that the MnV13-modified perovskite photodetector demonstrated the best efficiency. The photocurrent of the photodetector increased from 26 to 80 mu A, and its stability was good. After 720 h, the normalized current values of unencapsulated devices on the MnV13@SnO2 substrate were maintained at more than 70% of the initial values. The study findings show that introducing POVs into photodetectors is a potential strategy for optimizing the performance of photovoltaic devices.

It is challenging to handle heavy-metal-rich plants that grow in contaminated soil. The role of heavy metals in biomass on the physicochemical structure and electrochemical properties of their derived carbon has not been considered in previous research. In this study, Cu-ion hybrid nanoporous carbon (CHNC) is prepared from Cu content-contaminated biomass through subcritical hydrocharization (HTC) coupling pyrolytic activation processes. The CHNCs are used as advanced electrode material for energy storage applications, exhibiting an impressively ultrahigh capacitance of 562 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1 (CHNC-700-4-25), excellent energy density of 26.15 W h kg-1, and only 7.59% capacitance loss after enduring 10,000 cycles at a current density of 10 A g-1, making CHNCs rank in the forefront of previously known carbon-based supercapacitor materials. These comprehensive characterizations demonstrate that copper ions introduce new electrochemically active sites and enhance the conductivity and charge transport performance of the electrode material, elevating the specific capacitance of CHNC from 463 to 562 F g-1. These findings offer valuable insights into the effective energy storage application of heavy-metal-contaminated biomass wastes.

1T-MoS2 has the potential as a counter electrode material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) due to its unique energy band electronic structure that gives it metallic properties and a conductivity nearly 10(7) times higher than that of the common 2H-MoS2. However, the pure phase 1 T-MoS2 has the disadvantages of low catalytic performance and poor thermal stability. Polyoxometalates (POMs) are a type of inorganic polymetallic oxygen clusters, which have lots of exposed redox sites and good structural stability. In this article, three different POMs (CoMo6, NiMo6, and FeMo6) have been dispersed and loaded into 1 T-MoS2, which led to a synergistic effect between highly redox-active POMs and highly conductive 1 T-MoS2. Among the three different POMs/MoS2, the DSSCs prepared with FeMo6/MoS2 as the counter electrode material has the optimal Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE), which reaches 6.36% at a doping level of 0.5 mg mL(-1) of FeMo6, which is higher than that of Pt (5.94%), and it has a good long-term stability. This work offers a valuable method for the design of composite materials for the reduction of I-3(-), and the resulting counter electrode, with its excellent performance and low cost, promotes further industrialization of DSSCs.

Two-dimensional violet phosphorus (VP), a semiconductor with a tunable bandgap and anisotropic crystal structure, has demonstrated significant potential for photodetector applications due to its extremely high light on/off ratio and anisotropic light detectivity. Nonetheless, its performance is hindered by substantial intrinsic resistance, resulting in low photoresponsivity. In this work, we introduce a gate-tunable vertical tunnel junction device that employs thin-film violet phosphorus as the tunneling barrier and graphene as the electrode. This configuration shortens the transport path for photo-excited charge carriers in violet phosphorus, leading to a decreased recombination rate and a marked enhancement in photoresponsivity. Our device maintains a light-to-dark current ratio exceeding 2 × 105 and achieves an optimized photoresponsivity of 0.58 A/W at the 532 nm excitation by fine-tuning the bias and gate voltages. Furthermore, we detect a noticeable photocurrent signal even when the excitation photon energy falls below the bandgap of violet phosphorus. The infrared photoresponse diverges from the visible-light response in both temperature and polarization dependencies, indicating two distinct underlying mechanisms for photocurrent generation in these spectral ranges. This multi-mechanism detection strategy expands the wavelength capabilities for violet phosphorus-based photodetectors, opening new avenues, to the best of our knowledge, for advanced optoelectronic devices.