Abstract: Structurally well-defined graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to their unique optical, electrical and magnetic properties. However, the serious aggregation induced by the strong π-π interaction between GNRs severely limits their solution dispersibility and thus impedes the deeper fundamental studies on their physiochemical properties and the exploration of their prospective applications. Thereby, the realization of desired dispersibility, in particular single-ribbon dispersibility, is a key issue for studying the physiochemical properties of GNRs in liquid phase as well as simply preparing GNR-based photoelectric devices. To this end, Prof. Mai's group at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have been focusing on the chemical synthesis of liquid-phase dispersible GNRs. In recent years, they achieved the polymer functionalization of GNRs and their excellent dispersibility in liquid phase, which offered this group opportunities for the understanding of supramolecular self-assembly and photothermal conversion performance of GNRs in liquid phase. Very recently, they demonstrated a solution chemical synthesis of a new type of GNRs decorated with pending triptycene-like rigid group. The radius of this side group is about 0.5 nm, which is larger than the interlayer spacing of graphite (about 0.34 nm), thus effectively hindering the π-π stacking of GNR backbones and affording the GNRs excellent dispersibility in many common organic solvents (e.g. tetrahydrofuran, THF) with unprecedentedly high concentrations (up to 5 mg/mL). Most importantly, single GNRs were achieved at low concentrations (less than 0.1 mg/mL) in liquid phase; their photophysical properties were studied, for the first time, by ultrafast spectroscopy coupling with two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy. This breakthrough paves the way for understanding the physical properties of individual GNRs in liquid phase and for exploring their potential applications.