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With the development of laser technology, the research of novel laser protection materials is of great significance. In this work, dispersible siloxene nanosheets (SiNSs) with a thickness of about 1.5 nm are prepared by the top-down topological reaction method. Based on the Z-scan and optical limiting testing under the visible-near IR ranges nanosecond laser, the broad-band nonlinear optical properties of the SiNSs and their hybrid gel glasses are investigated. The results show that the SiNSs have outstanding nonlinear optical properties. Meanwhile, the SiNSs hybrid gel glasses also exhibit high transmittance and excellent optical limiting capabilities. It demonstrates that SiNSs are promising materials for broad-band nonlinear optical limiting and even have potential applications in optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of laser technology, the research of novel laser protection materials is of great significance. In this work, dispersible siloxene nanosheets (SiNSs) with a thickness of about 1.5 nm are prepared by the top-down topological reaction method. Based on the Z-scan and optical limiting testing under the visible-near IR ranges nanosecond laser, the broad-band nonlinear optical properties of the SiNSs and their hybrid gel glasses are investigated. The results show that the SiNSs have outstanding nonlinear optical properties. Meanwhile, the SiNSs hybrid gel glasses also exhibit high transmittance and excellent optical limiting capabilities. It demonstrates that SiNSs are promising materials for broad-band nonlinear optical limiting and even have potential applications in optoelectronics.

Developing new optimized bifunctional photocatalyst is of great significant for achieving the high‐performance photo‐assisted Li‐O2 batteries. Herein, a novel bifunctional photo‐assisted Li‐O2 system is constructed by using siloxene nanosheets with ultra‐large size and few‐layers due to its superior light harvesting, semiconductor characteristic, and low recombination rate. An ultra‐low charge potential of 1.90 V and ultra‐high discharge of 3.51 V have been obtained due to the introduction of this bifunctional photocatalyst into Li‐O2 batteries, and these results have realized the round‐trip efficiency up to 185 %. In addition, this photo‐assisted Li‐O2 batteries exhibits a high rate (129 % round‐trip efficiency at 1 mA cm−2), a prolonged cycling life with 92 % efficiency retention after 100 cycles, and the highly reversible capacity of 1170 mAh g−1 at 0.75 mA cm−2. This work will open the vigorous opportunity for high‐efficiency utilization of solar energy into electric system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing an appropriate cathode is still a challenge for lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) to overcome the polysulfides shuttling and sluggish redox reactions. Herein, 2D siloxene nanosheets are developed by a rational wet‐chemistry exfoliation approach, from which S@siloxene@graphene (Si/G) hybrids are constructed as cathodes in Li‐S cells. The siloxene possesses corrugated 2D Si backbone with abundant O grafted in Si6 rings and hydroxyl‐functionalized surface, which can effectively intercept polysulfides via synergistic effects of chemical trapping capability and kinetically enhanced polysulfides conversion. Theoretical analysis further reveals that siloxene can significantly elevate the adsorption energies and lower energy barrier for Li+ diffusion. The LSBs assembled with 2D Si/G hybrid cathodes exhibit greatly enhanced rate performance (919, 759, and 646 mAh g−1 at 4 C with sulfur loading of 1, 2.9, and 4.2 mg cm−2, respectively) and superb durability (demonstrated by 1000 cycles with an initial capacity of 951 mAh g−1 and negligible 0.032% decay rate at 1 C with sulfur loading of 4.2 mg cm−2). It is expected that the study presented here may open up a new vision toward developing high‐performance LSBs with siloxene for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siloxene nanosheets were successfully modified with palladium nanoparticles by reducing palladium chloride with hydrazine hydrate. The palladium nanoparticles-siloxene nanosheets as a catalyst for the Mizoroki-Heck reaction exhibited high activity, recoverability and stability. The structural morphology of the catalyst was investigated using transmission electron microscopy. High efficiency of the catalyst was proved in the Mizoroki-Heck reaction after five catalytic recycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing new optimized bifunctional photocatalyst is of great significant for achieving the high-performance photo-assisted Li-O 2 batteries. Herein, a novel bifunctional photo-assisted Li-O 2 system is constructed by using siloxene nanosheets with ultra-large size and few-layers due to its superior light harvesting, semiconductor characteristic, and low recombination rate. An ultra-low charge potential of 1.90 V and ultra-high discharge of 3.51 V have been obtained due to the introduction of this bifunctional photocatalyst into Li-O 2 batteries, and these results have realized the round-trip efficiency up to 185 %. In addition, this photo-assisted Li-O 2 batteries exhibits a high rate (129 % round-trip efficiency at 1 mA cm -2 ), a prolonged cycling life with 92 % efficiency retention after 100 cycles, and the highly reversible capacity of 1170 mAh g -1 at 0.75 mA cm -2 . This work will open the vigorous opportunity for high-efficiency utilization of solar energy into electric system., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)