SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4394-x
Spiral graphene, characterized by Bernal-stacked layers and unique electronic properties, holds promise for advanced quantum and optoelectronic devices. However, its controlled synthesis remains challenging. Here, we report the self-assembly growth of single-crystal spiral graphene on a liquid heterogeneous substrate via chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A 50-μm-thick Cu foil was placed on a Ni support and heated to 1083 °C, the melting point of pure Cu, ensuring a fully molten Cu layer on solid Ni. Growth proceeded for 30 minutes under optimized conditions. The resulting spiral graphene exhibits a uniform Bernal stacking configuration, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and selected-area electron diffraction. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) depth profiling and isotope-labeling experiments reveal that carbon incorporation occurs predominantly at the spiral step edges, following a self-assembly mechanism driven by the liquid substrate's dynamic surface. Control experiments on solid Cu-Ni alloys yield no spiral morphology, underscoring the critical role of the liquid phase. The liquid heterogeneous substrate facilitates rapid carbon diffusion and step-edge attachment, enabling the growth of high-quality single-crystal spirals with controlled layer number. This work provides a scalable route to synthesize spiral graphene with tailored stacking, advancing its application in twistronics and high-performance electronics.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Technology•2026•DOI: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202608010
Under the synergistic advancement of the Dual Carbon Strategy and circular economy, high-value utilization of coal fly ash and multiscale pollutant remediation are critical. Direct synthesis of hierarchical porous zeolite A from coal fly ash, integrating microporous framework and mesoporous channels, faces challenges due to complex impurities and difficulty in controlling crystal growth and pore architecture. To overcome bottlenecks of conventional microporous zeolite A—narrow pores, mass-transfer limitations, and inefficiency in removing larger pollutants—this study used acid-treated coal fly ash as silica-alumina source and a soft-template-assisted alkali fusion-hydrothermal method to synthesize hierarchical porous zeolite A with three-dimensionally interconnected mesoporous network. Effects of template type and dosage on crystalline phase, morphology, and pore structure were systematically investigated. With 3% dimethyloctadecyl[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ammonium chloride (TPOAC) as template, the zeolite exhibited step-like rough cubic morphology formed by self-assembly of nanocrystals. Its specific surface area and total pore volume reached 57.0 m²/g and 0.1351 cm³/g, respectively, approximately three- and four-fold increases over conventional microporous zeolite A. Using aqueous ammonia nitrogen and gaseous acetone as probe pollutants, differential responses were revealed: for ammonia nitrogen (ion-exchange mechanism), hierarchical pores mainly improved mass transfer, yielding adsorption capacity comparable to microporous zeolite A; for acetone (molecular sieving effect), hierarchical zeolite leveraged developed mesoporosity to overcome steric hindrance and induce capillary condensation, increasing adsorption capacity from 12 mg/g (microporous) to 59 mg/g—a 3.9-fold enhancement. This study elucidates structure-activity relationships and provides theoretical and technical support for large-scale fly ash utilization and design of materials for complex pollutant remediation.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-4033-1
Photodetectors are critical components in modern optoelectronic systems, underpinning applications in optical communication, low-altitude economy, environmental monitoring, and national defense. Layered two-dimensional (2D) materials such as MoS2, WS2, black phosphorus (BP), and ReS2 have attracted extensive attention due to their remarkable electronic and optical properties, including facile mechanical exfoliation and tunable characteristics via thickness engineering. The absence of dangling bonds enables the construction of van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures free from lattice-matching constraints, promoting efficient charge transport, enhanced light absorption, and suppressed dark current. Among layered materials, semimetals such as graphene, PdTe2, MoTe2, and TaIrTe4 exhibit narrow or zero bandgaps, enabling ultrabroadband spectral responses from ultraviolet (UV) to terahertz (THz). ZrTe3, a layered gapless semimetal, demonstrates pronounced carrier transport features, including robust excitons and ultrafast carrier relaxation times, making it an ideal candidate for photodetection. However, pure ZrTe3-based photodetectors suffer from substantial dark current due to the absence of an energy bandgap, degrading signal-to-noise ratio and specific detectivity (D*). This work reports a high-performance broadband photodetector based on a ZrTe3/CuInP2Se6 heterostructure. By exploiting an asymmetric contact configuration that introduces a Schottky barrier, the device effectively suppresses dark current while enhancing photoresponse. The photodetector exhibits broad spectral sensitivity from UV to near-infrared (355–1177 nm), microsecond-level response speed, and high responsivity and specific detectivity. Beyond conventional photodetection, an optoelectronic information encryption-decryption application is demonstrated, where modulated light and bias voltage serve as dual input channels to encode and decode ASCII signals. This study resolves the challenge of high dark current in semimetal-based photodetectors and introduces a multifunctional platform for secure optoelectronic communication, highlighting the potential of ZrTe3 for next-generation photonic and quantum information technologies.