Thinking Smaller: The Future of Two-Dimensional Materials

Berkeley Scientific: the journal of young scientists

article

Mina Nakatani

关键词: Two-Dimensional Materials;    Graphene;    Molybdenum Disulfide;    Band Gaps;    Nitric Oxide;    Nitrogen Dioxide;   

DOI  :  10.5070/BS3232045343

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: University of California, Berkeley

【 摘 要 】

Los Angeles, Chicago, New York.Huge metropolitan cities with skylines defined by towering skyscrapers andblinking lights that stretch high above theheads of those walking the streets. Peoplecrane their necks to see the literal heights ofhuman accomplishment, because buildinghigher in three-dimensional space—overcoming the limits of gravity—has long beenan incredible feat of engineering and technology. But what if the path to advancementexists in two dimensions rather than three?The field of two-dimensional materialsis a fairly new one, focusing on materials thatare only a single molecular layer thick. Thesematerials are not like the physical matter thatpeople come into contact with in daily life,which typically consist of many layers of atoms stacked on top of each other, forming athree-dimensional object. Instead, the structure of two-dimensional materials is a bit likethat of sticky notes: if a three-dimensional material like graphite is like the block ofnotes purchased at a store, graphene is like asingle note pulled off the block. Like the flexible single sheet compared to the rigid blockof sticky notes, two-dimensional materialshave different properties—electrical, chemical, and physical—from their three-dimensional counterparts, giving them enormouspotential, despite the challenges they stillneed to overcome.

【 授权许可】

Unknown