Piezotronics in two-dimensional materials

The fascinating two-dimensional (2D) materials are being potentially applied in various fields from science to engineering benefitting from the charming physical and chemical properties on optics, electronics, and magnetism, compared with the bulk crystal, while piezotronics is a universal and pervasive phenomenon in the materials with broking center symmetry, promoting the new field and notable achievements of piezotronics in 2D materials with higher accuracy and sensitivity. For example, 20 parts per billion of the detecting limitations in NO₂ sensor, 500 μm of spatial strain resolution in flexible devices, and 0.363 eV output voltage in nanogenerators. In this review, three categories of 2D piezotronics materials are first introduced ranging from organic to inorganic data, among which six types of 2D inorganic materials are emphasized based on the geometrical arrangement of different atoms. Then, the microscopic mechanism of carrier transport and separation in 2D piezotronic materials is highlighted, accompanied with the presentation of four measured methods. Subsequently, the developed applications of 2D piezotronics are discussed comprehensively including different kinds of sensors, piezo-catalysis, nanogenerators and information storage. Ultimately, we suggest the challenges and provide the ideas for qualitative–quantitative research of microscopic mechanism and large-scale integrated applications of 2D piezotronics. (Figure presented.).