  Here, we examine the influence of surface chemical reactivity toward ambient
gases on the performance of nanodevices based on two-dimensional materials
"beyond graphene" and novel topological phases of matter. While surface
oxidation in ambient conditions was observed for silicene and phosphorene with
subsequent reduction of the mobility of charge carriers, nanodevices with
active channels of indium selenide, bismuth chalcogenides and transition-metal
dichalcogenides are stable in air. However, air-exposed indium selenide suffers
of p-type doping due to water decomposition on Se vacancies, whereas the low
mobility of charge carriers in transition-metal dichalcogenides increases the
response time of nanodevices. Conversely, bismuth chalcogenides require a
control of crystalline quality, which could represent a serious hurdle for up
scaling.
