2D Carbon-Based Heterostructures and Beyond: Design and Emerging Applications

2D carbon-based materials have rapidly evolved from scientific curiosities to essential building blocks for advanced materials engineering. Over the past decade, innovations in materials such as graphene, graphene oxide, fluorographene, graphdiyne, and carbon nitride have unlocked new pathways for constructing complex architectures, particularly when these entities are assembled into heterostructures. In these systems, material interfaces serve as the primary determinants of physical, chemical, and electronic behavior, overshadowing the properties of individual layers. Despite impressive progress, critical challenges remain unaddressed, such as controlling interfacial properties, achieving scalable integration, and understanding how subtle changes at the atomic scale can dramatically influence macroscopic performance. Recent studies have demonstrated remarkable functionalities in devices where carbon-based 2D layers are stacked with transition metal dichalcogenides, MXenes, hBN, perovskites, and other emerging materials, pointing to both immense promise and the urgent need for systematic exploration of heterostructure design principles.This Research Topic aims to spotlight cutting-edge advances in the fabrication, modelling, and functional deployment of 2D carbon-based heterostructures, with particular attention to van der Waals architectures. By emphasizing the integration of graphene and related carbon allotropes with a wide array of 2D materials, including semiconductors, dielectrics, and magnetic layers, the collection seeks to reveal how interfacial engineering, twist angles, strain, defects, chemical doping, and proximity effects can be leveraged to create multifunctional, robust, and scalable devices. Contributions that bridge the gap between fundamental interface science and real-world applications are especially encouraged, as are investigations into the physical mechanisms underpinning emergent properties and device performance. Given the vast compositional space of van der Waals architectures, AI-driven strategies, such as machine learning for high-throughput screening and autonomous synthesis, can significantly accelerate the discovery of optimal heterostructures. This Research Topic will span research that connects core interface Physics, Chemistry, and Materials Science with demonstrations in device architectures. Beyond traditional vertical stacks, we also invite studies on hybrid, porous, patterned, or three-dimensional configurations. To gather further insights in this rapidly evolving area, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Design and synthesis of novel 2D carbon-based heterostructures• Interface characterization, control, and modeling at the atomic and mesoscopic scales• Integration strategies for scalable manufacturing and device fabrication• Emergent electronic, optoelectronic, magnetic, or energy-related properties• Multifunctional applications across sensing, catalysis, energy storage, and quantum information• Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the design and synthesis of 2D Carbon-based heterostructures Topic editors: Zaka Ullah, Nadeem Raza, Muhammad Faizan Nazar Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80022/2d-carbon-based-heterostructures-and-beyond-design-and-emerging-applications