Graphene has demonstrated great potential in next-generation electronics due to its unique two-dimensional structure and properties including a zero-gap band structure, high electron mobility, and high electrical and thermal conductivity. The integration of atom-thick graphene into a device always involves its interaction with a supporting substrate by van der Waals forces and other intermolecular forces or even covalent bonding, and this is critical to its real applications. Graphene films on different surfaces are expected to exhibit significant differences in their properties, which lead to changes in their morphology, electronic structure, surface chemistry/physics, and surface/interface states. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the surface/interface properties is of great importance. In this review, we describe the major "graphene-on-surface" structures and examine the roles of their properties and related phenomena in governing the overall performance for specific applications including optoelectronics, surface catalysis, anti-friction and superlubricity, and coatings and composites. Finally, perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of graphene-on-surface systems are discussed.

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Graphene oxide modified piperazine nanofiltration membranes are prepared by in situ interfacial polymerization and show improved water permeability and ion selectivity performance.

Graphene-based porous structures have triggered tremendous attention due to their promising application in many fields. Recent progress has yielded structures with stochastic porous networks, which limit their controllability and potential performance. It still remains a big challenge for the scalable production to integrate the 2D building block into engineered porous architectures in multidimensions. Here, a versatile technique based on soft bubble templating and fixation by freezing is described to fabricate 3D bubble-derived graphene foams (BGFs) and 2D bubble-derived graphene porous membranes (BGPMs). These light-weight novel structures are carefully tuned. The BGFs show high adsorption capabilities for organic solvents and good recovery in structural deformation. Furthermore, applications of BGFs and BGPMs in strain sensors for wearable devices are discussed, working as a combined system which can both detect the compressive and tensile deformation. This technique can be extended to assemble other nanomaterials as building blocks into macroscopic configurations.

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