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A strong electrocatalytic activity of the MXenes nanomaterials (NMs) has gained a lot of concentration as cutting edge materials in a variety of electrocatalytic devices in a broad range of industrial uses. In recent years, the production and utilization of the MXenes NMs as an electrocatalysts has progressed, with more than 50 distinct variants found and used. We reviewed and discussed in this article the latest detail progress in the synthesis, selected properties and potential applications of the MXenes as an electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), overall water splitting, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), nitrogen reduction reaction (N2RR), CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) etc. We will also discuss the numerous approaches for increasing MXenes electrocatalytic activity for target products. At the end, we will also talk about the present obstacles and future suggestions for the MXenes as HER, ORR, OER, NO2RR and CO2RR electrocatalysts.

A monolayer of black phosphorus (BP), commonly known as phosphorene is a novel member of the two-dimensional (2D) materials family. In consequence of its “puckered” lattice structure, phosphorene has a larger surface to volume ratio than graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), and has revealed some distinct benefits in sensing applications. Since, its first synthesis in 2014 by mechanical exfoliation has spurred a wave of material science research activity. Phosphorene's structure and anisotropic characteristics, with its applications in transistors, batteries, solar cells, disease theranostics and sensing has been the subject of several reviews. This pursuit has sparked a flurry of new areas of research, theoretical and experimental, targeted at technological breakthroughs. The target of this review is to explain current advances in phosphorene synthesis, properties, and sensing applications, such as gas sensing, humidity sensing, photo-detection, bio-sensing, and ion-sensing. Finally, we will discuss the present obstacles and potential for phosphorene synthesis, properties and sensing applications.

We have experimentally demonstrated both 1.82 μm and 1.84 μm Tm:YAP lasers at the operation mode of continuous-wave (CW) and mode-locking. These individual wavelength lasers are realized by using well-chosen output couplers. For the CW operation, a short Fabry-Perot cavity is employed. The maximum output power of the 1825 nm Tm:YAP laser is 7.04 W, and the corresponding slope efficiency is 59.3%. For 1844 nm Tm:YAP laser, the output power is 7.1 W. A commercial semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) is used for realizing continuous-wave mode-locking (CWML) operation. The average output power of Tm:YAP laser at 1823.7 nm is 0.3 W, and the pulse duration is 126 ps. Further, stable CWML laser operating at 1844 nm is realized by inserting a 5 mm fused-quartz plate into the cavity with the Brewster angle. The average output power of 0.63 W is achieved, and the pulse duration is 156 ps.

Recently, the active controlled broadband terahertz (THz) emitter from semiconductor crystal has attracted considerable attention due to its field intensity tuning properties, which makes it a promising candidate for wide applications in THz photonics. A broadband THz wave radiation intensity by applying electric field control in an n-type semiconductor tin selenide (SnSe2) crystal had been reported. In addition, due to the weak phonon absorption of the material in the THz band, the resulting THz spectral range is up to 3.5 THz. With an applied voltage of −5 V, the actively modulated depth of THz intensity is up to 123%. Our work directly demonstrates that when the excited laser photon energy exceeds the material bandgap, photon drag effect would be the main mechanism of THz wave radiation rather than nonlinear effects. Owing to simple structure and high modulation depth, electrically controlled THz radiation, the SnSe2 crystal has great applications in generation and modulation devices in THz region.

We demonstrate a compact all-fiber-optic vector magnetometer based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer by utilizing nano-magnetic fluid filled double-clad photonic crystal fiber (DC-PCF). The magnetic fluid (MF) serving as sensing elements is injected into the micro-channel-arrays of DC-PCF. The magnetometer is constructed by splicing a section of MF-filled DC-PCF between two standard single mode fibers forming a high stable all-fiber structure without any additional sealed capillary. The vector magnetometer has the capability of simultaneous measurement of magnetic field intensity and orientation by monitoring a specific dip wavelength shift or transmission loss of Mach-Zehnder interference spectrum. The magnetometer with response sensitivities of 114.5 pm/mT, 1.79 dB/mT (X-axis) and 41.9 pm/mT, 0.52 dB/mT (Y-axis) at two particular orthogonal magnetic field orientations was fabricated and investigated.