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2D Ti3C2Tz MXene Synthesized by Water-free Etching of Ti3AlC2 in Polar Organic Solvents
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

2D Ti3C2Tz MXene Synthesized by Water-free Etching of Ti3AlC2 in Polar Organic Solvents

Varun Natu, Rahul Pai, Maxim Sokol, Michael Carey, Vibha Kalra and Michel W. Barsoum
Chem, v 6(3), pp 616-630
12 Mar 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2020.01.019
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2020.01.019View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (Publisher-Specific),  Open

Abstract

2D materials energy storage F-surface terminations MXenes Na-ion batteries synthesis water-free etching ESI Highly Cited Paper (Incites)
The first MXene discovered, Ti3C2Tz, was synthesized by etching of the parent MAX phase, Ti3AlC2, in a solution of concentrated hydrofluoric acid. Since then, several other ways of synthesizing MXenes have been reported, such as electrochemical etching in various electrolytes, high-temperature alkali treatment, molten salt synthesis, etc. The majority of these etching methods, however, use water as their main solvent, limiting direct use of MXenes in water-sensitive applications. In this work, we show that it is possible to etch, and delaminate, MXenes in the absence of water, by using organic polar solvents in the presence of ammonium dihydrogen fluoride. We further show that by using this etching method, it is possible to obtain Ti3C2Tz flakes rich in fluorine terminations. We also demonstrate that electrodes made from Ti3C2Tz etched in propylene carbonate resulted in Na-ion battery anodes with double the capacity to those etched in water. [Display omitted] •Water-free synthesis of MXenes using polar solvents and NH4HF2 solutions•MXene synthesized in propylene carbonate show enhanced performance in Na-ion batteries•If synthesized in a glove box, the MXenes terminations are majorly fluorine The 2D transition metal carbides and nitrides called MXenes are generally synthesized top down by exposing the parent MAX phase to fluoride-ion-containing acids. This acid treatment selectively etches out only the A-atomic layers from the MAX phase and results in 2D MXene sheets. To date, the most common solvent used for this acid treatment is water, rendering the use of MXenes in water-sensitive applications difficult. In this work, we show that it is possible to etch the MAX phase in a solution of a polar organic solvent and ammonium dihydrogen fluoride and obtain F-terminated MXenes without the use of water. This opens avenues for use of MXenes in numerous water-sensitive applications such as energy storage, polymer composites, supports for quantum dots, etc. The majority of etching methods for synthesizing MXenes use water as the main solvent, which in turn limits direct use of MXenes in water-sensitive applications. In this work, we show that it is possible to etch, and delaminate, MXenes in the absence of water by using organic polar solvents and ammonium dihydrogen fluoride. We also demonstrate that electrodes made from Ti3C2Tz etched in propylene carbonate, resulted in Na-ion battery anodes with double the capacity to those etched in water.

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Web of Science research areas
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
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