Advanced Research in 2D Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been at the core of intense research and development since the isolation of the first two-dimensional material—graphene. Caused by 2D confinement, 2D materials opened a completely novel chapter of the study of condensed matter. Novel extraordinary properties are discovered almost daily. Meanwhile, the vast amount of research leaves little doubt about the potential of 2D materials due to their unique topological, optical, electronic, magnetic, thermal, and mechanical properties. The large family consisting of 2D materials opens unprecedented opportunities for both fundamental science and various technological applications.

Although opportunities abound, significant challenges remain in the use of 2D materials. Currently, there are no available integrated chips or enabled products based on 2D materials. Furthermore, methods for enabling large-scale production with high-quality and controlled structures are still lacking. While assembling different 2D layers offers unique ways to control various phenomena including optical, electrical, thermal, magnetic, and topological phenomena, issues such as device-to-device variations, reliability, stability, and performance of 2D heterostructures in electronic and optoelectronic applications still need to be addressed. Nonetheless, 2D materials remain a promising research direction and have the potential to make a significant contribution. Besides electronic application, 2D materials are expected to facilitate the development of sustainable technology, such as energy storage, conversion, and catalysis. There are still many applications of 2D materials that we should develop. With the need to accelerate materials discovery and design, new technologies including machine learning and artificial intelligence need to be employed. Methodological development in theoretical modelling and computational algorithms, in close interaction with experiments, become necessary for the discovery of the extraordinary properties of 2D materials.

At Crystals, we wish to support research providing insight into the path toward addressing the challenges that hinder the development of 2D materials. Crystals is ideally a forum for the advancement of our understanding of the growth, processing, and characterization of materials. Additionally, their mechanical, chemical, electronic, magnetic, optical, and topological properties and their diverse applications are all considered to be of importance.

With a view to achieving these goals, this Special Issue will focus on new ideas and advanced research in 2D materials and will cover a wide range of topics. Both original research and review articles are welcomed, with areas of interest including, but not limited to:

• Synthesis, fabrication, characterization, and properties of 2D materials.
• Applications involving 2D materials.
• Theoretical calculation methods involving 2D materials.

Dr. Bosong Sun
Dr. Kwun Nam Hui
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• synthesis and fabrication of 2D materials
• characterization and properties of 2D materials
• applications involving 2D materials
• theories involving 2D materials
• machine learning involving 2D materials