Black phosphorene has attracted much attention as a semiconducting two‐dimensional material. Violet phosphorus is another layered semiconducting phosphorus allotrope with unique electronic and optoelectronic properties. However, no confirmed violet crystals or reliable lattice structure of violet phosphorus had been obtained. Now, violet phosphorus single crystals were produced and the lattice structure has been obtained by single‐crystal x‐ray diffraction to be monoclinic with space group of P2/n (13) (a=9.210, b=9.128, c=21.893 Å, β=97.776°). The lattice structure obtained was confirmed to be reliable and stable. The optical band gap of violet phosphorus is around 1.7 eV, which is slightly larger than the calculated value. The thermal decomposition temperature was 52 °C higher than its black phosphorus counterpart, which was assumed to be the most stable form. Violet phosphorene was easily obtained by both mechanical and solution exfoliation under ambient conditions.

A phosphorus allotrope that has not been observed so far, ring-shaped phosphorus consisting of alternate P and P structural units, has been assembled inside multi-walled carbon nanotube nanoreactors with inner diameters of 5-8 nm by a chemical vapor transport and reaction of red phosphorus at 500 °C. The ring-shaped nanostructures with surrounding graphene walls are stable under ambient conditions. The nanostructures were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman scattering, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Black phosphorene has attracted much attention as a semiconducting two‐dimensional material. Violet phosphorus is another layered semiconducting phosphorus allotrope with unique electronic and optoelectronic properties. However, no confirmed violet crystals or reliable lattice structure of violet phosphorus had been obtained. Now, violet phosphorus single crystals were produced and the lattice structure has been obtained by single‐crystal x‐ray diffraction to be monoclinic with space group of P2/n (13) (a=9.210, b=9.128, c=21.893 Å, β=97.776°). The lattice structure obtained was confirmed to be reliable and stable. The optical band gap of violet phosphorus is around 1.7 eV, which is slightly larger than the calculated value. The thermal decomposition temperature was 52 °C higher than its black phosphorus counterpart, which was assumed to be the most stable form. Violet phosphorene was easily obtained by both mechanical and solution exfoliation under ambient conditions.

Molybdenum disulfides and carbides are effective catalysts for hydrogenation and hydridesulfurization, where MoS2 nanostructures are also highly promising materials for lithium ion batteries. High surface-to-volume ratio and strong interactions with conducting networks are crucial factors for their activities. A new hybrid structure of multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) with alternate MoC nanoparticles and MoS2 nanosheets (MoS2 + MoC-MWCNT) has been synthesized by controlled carburization of core-shell MoS2-MWCNT hybrid nanotubes and demonstrated by HRTEM, FFT, XRD, and Raman scattering. The MoS2 nanosheets (∼10 nm) remain tightly connected to MWCNT surfaces with {001} planes in parallel to MWCNT walls and the highly crystallized α-MoC particles (∼10 nm) are adhered to MWCNTs at angles of 60-80° between {111} planes and MWCNT walls. The electrochemical performances of the hybrid structures have been demonstrated as anodes for lithium ion batteries to be significantly increased by breaking MoS2 nanotubes into nanosheets (patches) on MWCNT surfaces, especially at high current rates. The specific capacities of MoS2 + MoC-MWCNT sample with ∼23% MoS2 have been demonstrated to be higher than those of MoS2-MWCNTs containing ∼70% MoS2.

The work function and band alignment of violet phosphorene are demonstrated, giving a practical route for heterojunction structure design.