Nanoengineered Carbon-Based Interfaces for Advanced Energy and Photonics Applications: A Recent Progress and Innovations

As famed quantum physicist W. Pauli once said, "The surface was invented by the devil". The nonequilibrium state of particles forming the surface, and the presence of dangling bonds transform the surfaces into a 2D reactor with high physical and chemical reactivity. When two such active surfaces are matched, their interface becomes even more reactive, giving rise to novel properties or enhanced performance. For this reason, much effort is applied to design nanoengineered interfacial systems for applications spanning all facets of human life. This review article discusses recent, mostly within two years, progress in the design of complex, sophisticated carbon-based interfacial material systems for energy and photonics applications, with the aim to emphasize some of the most interesting and important examples of such systems. Differences in the processes that take place on flat and 3D (curved) surfaces are discussed, with the view of guiding the design and construction of complex functional interfaces, focusing on several points that are of particular importance to the ongoing development of advanced interfacial material systems.