Nonlayered materials are constructed with chemical covalent bonds in all three dimensions, distinct from layered materials, which contain evident structural differences in the horizontal and vertical directions. As a consequence, liquid‐phase exfoliation (LPE), a widely explored technique to obtain 2D layered nanoarchitectures, has not yet been fully characterized for the realization of 2D nonlayered nanostructures. Herein, by virtue of a typical chain‐like structure of crystalline bulk Te with strong TeTe covalent bonds in intrachains and weak Van der Waals forces in interchains, ultrathin 2D nonlayered Te nanosheets are realized by means of an LPE method. The resultant 2D Te nanosheets possess a broad lateral dimension ranging from 41.5 to 177.5 nm and a thickness ranging from 5.1 to 6.4 nm, and its photoresponse properties are evaluated using photoelectrochemical measurements. The 2D Te nanosheets exhibit excellent photoresponse behaviors from the UV to the visible regime in association with strong time and cycle stability for the on/off switching behaviors. The fabrication approach of 2D Te nanosheets would arouse interest in exfoliating other nonlayered 2D materials, which would expand the family of 2D materials.

2D transition metal carbides or nitrides, known as MXenes, are a new family of 2D materials with close to 30 members experimentally synthesized and dozens more theoretically investigated. Because of the abundant surface terminations, MXenes have been compounded with various materials by multi-interactions. In addition to the prevented aggregation and oxidation of MXene flakes, the MXene/polymer membranes exhibit outstanding mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties due to the synergistic effects. However, relatively little is currently known about the MXene/polymer membranes and a special review on the progress of the synthesis, properties, and applications of MXene/polymer membranes has not been reported to date. Herein, this Review starts with an introduction of the synthesis and properties of MXenes. Then the development of MXene/polymer membranes will be discussed, which aims to summarize various approaches of fabricating MXene/polymer membranes and their fascinating properties. The focus then turns to their exciting potential applications in various fields such as filtration, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, energy storage devices, wearable electronics, etc. Finally, outlooks and perspectives for the future challenges and prospects of MXene/polymer membranes are provided.

Low dimensional materials based sensors have improved the detection strategy for sensing complex substances present in environment and human body.

Two-dimensional (2D) monoelemental bismuth (Bi) crystal, one of the pnictogens (group VA), has recently attracted increasing interest because of its intriguing characteristics. Here, uniformly sized 2D Bi quantum dots (BiQDs) with an average diameter (thickness) of 4.9 ± 1.0 nm (2.6 ± 0.7 nm) were fabricated through a facile liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) method, and the corresponding photoresponse was evaluated using photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements. The as-fabricated BiQDs-based photodetector not only exhibits an appropriate capacity for self-driven broadband photoresponse but also shows high-performance photoresponse under low bias potentials ranging from UV to visible light in association with long-term stability of the ON/OFF switching behavior. In terms of these findings, it is further anticipated that the resultant BiQDs possess promising potential in UV–visible photodetection as well as in liquid optoelectronics. Our work may open a new avenue for delivering high-quality monoelemental pnictogen QDs from their bulk counterparts, thereby expanding interest in 2D monoelemental materials.