Bi₂Te₃-based materials are one type of the most popular thermoelectric materials and topological insulators, whereby their thin films are particularly suitable for important applications in the efficient active cooling and self-powered power supply for miniaturized/flexible electronic devices as well as in the low power electronics and quantum computation. Tremendous efforts regarding the delicate control of the atomic point defects, chemical composition, preferential orientation, magnetic doping, and also spin-orbit coupling have been exerted for the optimization of electronic band structure, topological surface states, electrical and thermal transport, and topological electronic transport of Bi₂Te₃-based thin films, and hence for the proof-of-principle demonstration and practical applications of Bi₂Te₃-based thin film devices. It is widely accepted that Bi₂Te₃-based thin films will be of great significance for thin-film thermoelectric applications and for discovering novel topological phenomena and relevant applications in the near future.

Nurturing the marriages of single atoms with atomic clusters and nanoparticles: The three basic building blocks of single atoms, atomic clusters, and nanoparticles each feature rather different chemical properties. Nurturing their interactions in one purposely-combined catalytic entity help catalyze complex electrochemical reactions, where there can be synergies among the intermediate steps driven by the combination of individual building blocks, leading to much higher activity and selectivity.