New insights into the interactions between two-dimensional ice and two-dimensional materials

Abstract

Water is one of the most essential substances for life on Earth and plays a vital role in both natural and technological processes. Recently, there has been growing interest in studying the behavior of water molecules in confined spaces, particularly in low-dimensional materials and structures. Regardless of whether it is in the form of gas, liquid, or solid, water can interact and form interfaces with many low-dimensional structures. Given the current controversial understanding of two-dimensional (2D) ice and the increasing interplay between water/ice and 2D materials such as graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides, we provide a brief overview of recent progresses on the interfaces of 2D ice and 2D van der Waals layered materials. This review highlights their potential contributions to the breakthroughs in tribology, membrane technology, nanofluidic, and nanodevice applications. Of particular interest is the recent discovery of ultrahigh lubricity between 2D ice and 2D layered materials, as well as the ability to modulate the surface adhesion between layers. These findings have the potential to enable new technological advances in both electronics and various industries. Meanwhile, this rapidly evolving field presents its own challenges, and we also discuss future directions for exploiting the interactions between 2D ice and 2D layered materials.