The effect of HF concentration and ultrasound time on 2D-MXene-Ti3C2 material synthesised by wet chemical method

Abstract

Recently, a new family of two-dimensional materials, called MXenes, which are layered structure materials of carbides/nitrides/carbonitrides of transition metal, are receiving the attention of scientists. MXene, with its unique 2D layered structure, can easily combine with other materials to enhance the properties of the resulting composite material. The materials are being investigated for wide applications including energy storage, supercapacitors, catalysis, conductive films, reinforcement and adsorbents. MXene can be synthesised through selective etching from the MAXene precursor using HF etching solution. This study reports the effect of HF concentration and ultrasonication time on the morphology and composition of the synthesised 2D-MXene-Ti₃C₂ materials. These characterisations were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy analysis. The results showed that at 48% HF and 90 min of ultrasonication time, 2D-MXene-Ti₃C₂ material has good delamination with the aluminum content in the molecule remaining about 1.5%. The material has an approximately 5.8-fold increase in surface area compared to the original MAX-Ti₃AlC₂ material.