Journal article
Flexible and conductive MXene films and nanocomposites with high capacitance
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, v 111(47), pp 16676-16681
25 Nov 2014
PMID: 25389310
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Two-dimensional transition metal carbides (MXenes) offer a quite unique combination of excellent mechanical properties, hydrophilic surfaces, and metallic conductivity. In this first report (to our knowledge) on MXene composites of any kind, we show that adding polymer binders/spacers between atomically thin MXenes layers or reinforcing polymers with MXenes results in composite films that have excellent flexibility, good tensile and compressive strengths, and electrical conductivity that can be adjusted over a wide range. The volumetric capacitances of freestanding Ti
3
C
2
T
x
MXene and its composite films exceed all previously published results. Owing to their mechanical strength and impressive capacitive performance, these films have the potential to be used for structural energy storage devices, electrochemical actuators, radiofrequency shielding, among other applications.
MXenes, a new family of 2D materials, combine hydrophilic surfaces with metallic conductivity. Delamination of MXene produces single-layer nanosheets with thickness of about a nanometer and lateral size of the order of micrometers. The high aspect ratio of delaminated MXene renders it promising nanofiller in multifunctional polymer nanocomposites. Herein, Ti
3
C
2
T
x
MXene was mixed with either a charged polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDDA) or an electrically neutral polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to produce Ti
3
C
2
T
x
/polymer composites. The as-fabricated composites are flexible and have electrical conductivities as high as 2.2 × 10
4
S/m in the case of the Ti
3
C
2
T
x
/PVA composite film and 2.4 × 10
5
S/m for pure Ti
3
C
2
T
x
films. The tensile strength of the Ti
3
C
2
T
x
/PVA composites was significantly enhanced compared with pure Ti
3
C
2
T
x
or PVA films. The intercalation and confinement of the polymer between the MXene flakes not only increased flexibility but also enhanced cationic intercalation, offering an impressive volumetric capacitance of ∼530 F/cm
3
for MXene/PVA-KOH composite film at 2 mV/s. To our knowledge, this study is a first, but crucial, step in exploring the potential of using MXenes in polymer-based multifunctional nanocomposites for a host of applications, such as structural components, energy storage devices, wearable electronics, electrochemical actuators, and radiofrequency shielding, to name a few.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Flexible and conductive MXene films and nanocomposites with high capacitance
- Creators
- Zheng Ling - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, andChang E Ren - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, andMeng-Qiang Zhao - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, andJian Yang - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, andJames M Giammarco - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, andJieshan Qiu - Carbon Research Laboratory, Liaoning Key Laboratory for Energy Materials and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Fine ChemicalsMichel W Barsoum - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, andYury Gogotsi - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, v 111(47), pp 16676-16681
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000345662700023
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84912535342
- Other Identifier
- 991014877892504721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Materials Science, Multidisciplinary