Two-dimensional (2D) materials are promising candidates for solar-driven desalination. However, conventional photothermal 2D materials like transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) as well as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) suffer from major limitations such as their complex synthesis and low photothermal conversion efficiency. In contrast, metal phosphorus trichalcogenides (MPCh3) do not display the same drawbacks and possess widely tunable bandgaps (1.2–3.5 eV), making them ideal candidates for solar desalination. Moreover, their properties and applications related to light–matter interactions can be further enhanced by coupling with other low-dimensional nanostructures, tailoring hybrid van der Waals heterostructures of mixed dimensionality. Herein, we report the synthesis of FePS3 nanosheets/carbon nanodots (CNDs) 2D/0D nanoheterojunctions and their photothermal response when integrated into a 3D photothermal evaporator. These nanoheterojunctions exhibited high photothermal conversion performance, with an average absorbance of 90.6% from the UV to the NIR and a temperature increase of 42 °C over the blank control under 1 sun illumination for 300 s. A high water evaporation rate of 1.68 kg m–2 h–1 was observed under the same condition. Photothermal conversion and water evaporation experiments, along with femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (fs-TAS), photoluminescence (PL) analysis, and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, revealed that the incorporation of CNDs and formation of the nanoheterojunction synergistically enhance localized heating and light absorption, improve trapping efficiency, and optimize nonradiative transition pathways. This study demonstrates the disruptive potential of the rational design of high-performance 2D material hybrids through MPCh3-based nanoheterojunction engineering, unveiling its transformative capability for use in solar desalination and photothermal technologies.

Enzymatically crosslinked gelatin-based organohydrogels, fabricated through a fully bio-based and scalable process, exhibit exceptional strain and temperature sensing capabilities with minimal interf...

A nonlinear conductive graphene composite (NcGc) layer, incorporating a conductive laser-reduced graphene oxide layer, is assembled into flexible pressure sensors without microstructural designs, ach...

2D polymeric C60 is an emerging all-carbon semiconductor possessing unique hierarchical electronic structures. A hydrogen-assisted electrochemical strategy has been developed to produce gram-scale la....

This study explores the covalent functionalization of Ti3C2Tx using 5,5′-bis(triisopropoxysilyl)-2,2′-bipyridine in different solvents, revealing that only m-xylene enables effective covalent bonding...

In this study, we investigate the relationship between the polymorphism and crystallographic parameters and the charge transport properties achieved through the fabrication of organic field-effect tra...

Single-atom catalysts are vital for the cycloaddition of CO2 with epoxides due to their Lewis acidic sites. This concept provides a concise perspective on the advancements of single-atom catalysts fo...

The crystal structures of organic semiconductors are critical when they are integrated into optoelectronic devices, such as organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). In this study, we introduce a crys...

This study explores polyoxometalate-based hybrids with varying dimensionalities, linking molecular, polymeric, and framework structures to supercapacitor performance. The results highlight how struct...

Photodetectors are optoelectronic devices that output an electric signal when illuminated, with a wide range of uses in modern technologies from the fields of biomedical imaging to communications. However, further improving the sensitivity and functionality of these devices to achieve even broader applications would require further development of devices with selective detection capability over wide ranges of wavelengths. In this study, we present a novel photodetector capable of multiwavelength visible light detection using a blend of organic semiconductors and inorganic perovskites as active material. In this photofield-effect transistor (photoFET), the photogating effect of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals upon illumination below 520 nm triggers a large shift in threshold voltage while illumination over 600 nm results in an increase in current without threshold voltage shift. As a result, the device exhibits the capability to discriminate red and blue light, while being sensitive to the intensity of incident light within the visible spectrum. This innovative device opens the door to the development of single photodetector devices capable of recognizing multiple wavelengths and shows strong promise for increased photosensitivity due to the lack of power losses from filters. Furthermore, the combination of transistor operation and detection functions has strong promise for the development of reconfigurable and neuromorphic circuits.

Halide perovskites have been considered as promising thermoelectric materials due to their unusual combination of good charge mobility and ultralow thermal conductivity. Low dimensional halide perovsk...

Janus (MoS2) transistors functionalized with sodium alginate (SA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] exhibit persistent photo-induced ionic gating, driven by dynamic cat...

We report the carbonization of metal–organic framework-5 (MOF-5) at various temperatures to investigate the correlation between physicochemical properties and electrochemical performance in zinc-ion e...

Harnessing the full potential of a gate-modulated planar junction to maximize its on-state current density presents fundamental challenges in nanotechnology, particularly for semiconducting nanowires ...

This work uncovers the photothermal response of Ti-based MXene devices to laser irradiation under different experimental conditions. Ti2CTx exhibits an asymmetric photothermal response, characterized....