Defect-Laden MoSe2 Quantum Dots Made by Turbulent Shear Mixing as Enhanced Electrocatalysts

Synergetic contribution of enriched selenium vacancies and out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization in AB-stacked MoSe2 nanosheets as efficient piezocatalysts for TC degradation

Novel MoSe2 piezocatalysts with surface selenium vacancies and out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization exhibit ultrafast degradation of the antibiotic tetracycline.

Nanodots Derived from Layered Materials: Synthesis and Applications

Layered 2D materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, transition metal oxides, black phosphorus, graphitic carbon nitride, hexagonal boron nitride, and MXenes, have attracted intensive attention over the past decades owing to their unique properties and wide applications in electronics, catalysis, energy storage, biomedicine, etc. Further reducing the lateral size of layered 2D materials down to less than 10 nm allows for preparing a new class of nanostructures, namely, nanodots derived from layered materials. Nanodots derived from layered materials not only can exhibit the intriguing properties of nanodots due to the size confinement originating from the ultrasmall size, but also can inherit some unique properties of ultrathin layered 2D materials, making them promising candidates in a wide range of applications, especially in biomedicine and catalysis. Here, a comprehensive summary on the materials categories, advantages, synthesis methods, and potential applications of these nanodots derived from layered materials is provided. Finally, personal insights about the challenges and future directions in this promising research field are also given.

P-Doped CdS integrated with multiphasic MoSe2 nanosheets accomplish prominent photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution

The construction of P-doped CdS nanorods with multiphasic MoSe2 improves the separation and transfer efficiency of photogenerated carriers and apparently enhances the hydrogen production rate.

Defect Engineering of Molybdenum-Based Materials for Electrocatalysis

Molybdenum-based electrocatalysts have been widely applied in electrochemical energy conversion reactions. The essential roles of defects, including doping, vacancies, grain boundaries, and dislocations in improving various electrocatalytic performances have been reported. This review describes the latest development of defect engineering in molybdenum-based materials for hydrogen evolution, oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, and nitrogen reduction reactions. The types of defects, preparation methods, characterization techniques, and applications of molybdenum-based defect materials are elucidated. Finally, challenges and future research directions for these types of materials are also discussed.

2D CTAB-MoSe2 Nanosheets and 0D MoSe2 Quantum Dots: Facile Top-Down Preparations and Their Peroxidase-Like Catalytic Activity for Colorimetric Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide

We report the facile and economic preparation of two-dimensional (2D) and 0D MoSe2 nanostructures based on systematic and non-toxic top-down strategies. We demonstrate the intrinsic peroxidase-like activity of these MoSe2 nanostructures. The catalytic processes begin with facilitated decomposition of H2O2 by using MoSe2 nanostructures as peroxidase mimetics. In turn, a large amount of generated radicals oxidizes 3,3,5,5-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to produce a visible color reaction. The enzymatic kinetics of our MoSe2 nanostructures complies with typical Michaelis-Menten theory. Catalytic kinetics study reveals a ping-pong mechanism. Moreover, the primary radical responsible for the oxidation of TMB was identified to be Ȯ2- by active species-trapping experiments. Based on the peroxidase mimicking property, we developed a new colorimetric method for H2O2 detection by using 2D and 0D MoSe2 nanostructures. It is shown that the colorimetric sensing capability of our MoSe2 catalysts is comparable to other 2D materials-based colorimetric platforms. For instance, the linear range of H2O2 detection is between 10 and 250 μM by using 2D functionalized MoSe2 nanosheets as an artificial enzyme. Our work develops a systematic approach to use 2D materials to construct novel enzyme-free mimetic for a visual assay of H2O2, which has promising prospects in medical diagnosis and food security monitoring.

Phototherapy with layered materials derived quantum dots

Quantum dots (QDs) originating from two-dimensional (2D) sheets of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), monoatomic buckled crystals (phosphorene), germanene, silicene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are emerging zero-dimensional materials. These QDs possess diverse optical properties, are chemically stable, have surprisingly excellent biocompatibility and are relatively amenable to surface modifications. It is therefore not difficult to see that these QDs have potential in a variety of bioapplications, including biosensing, bioimaging and anticancer and antimicrobial therapy. In this review, we briefly summarize the recent progress of these exciting QD based nanoagents and strategies for phototherapy. In addition, we will discuss about the current limitations, challenges and future prospects of QDs in biomedical applications.

Synthesis of Black Phosphorus Quantum Dots with High Quantum Yield by Pulsed Laser Ablation for Cell Bioimaging

Black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs), with an average diameter of about 6 nm and a height of about 1.1 nm, are successfully synthesized by means of a pulsed laser ablation (PLA) method in isopropyl ether (IPE) solvent. The photoluminescence PL quantum yield of the as-prepared sample is as high as 20.7 %, which is 3 times that of BPQDs prepared by means of probe ultrasonic exfoliation (approximately 7.2 %). The stable and blue-violet PL emission of the BPQDs is observed. It can be elucidated that electrons transit from the LUMO energy level to the HOMO energy level, as well as energy levels below the HOMO (H1 and H2). In addition, BPQDs are also utilized in bioimaging in HeLa cells, showing an intense and stable PL signal and excellent biocompatibility. Hence, this work indicates that the obtained BPQDs with high quantum yield and stable PL emission have great potential for biomedical applications, including biolabeling, bioimaging, and drug delivery.

Transition metal dichalcogenide quantum dots: synthesis, photoluminescence and biological applications

We introduce the synthesis strategy, photoluminescence features and biological applications of TMD QDs.