Flexible and conductive MXene films and nanocomposites with high capacitance.
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, Ti3C2T(x) MXene was mixed with either a charged polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDDA) or an electrically neutral polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to produce Ti3C2T(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 Ti3C2T(x)/PVA composite film and 2.4 × 10(5) S/m for pure Ti3C2T(x) films. The tensile strength of the Ti3C2T(x)/PVA composites was significantly enhanced compared with pure Ti3C2T(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.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104; Carbon Research Laboratory, Liaoning Key Laboratory for Energy Materials and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China; and.
Zheng
Z
Ling
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
Chang E
CE
Ren
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
Meng-Qiang
MQ
Zhao
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104; College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Jian
J
Yang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
James M
JM
Giammarco
Carbon Research Laboratory, Liaoning Key Laboratory for Energy Materials and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China; and.
Jieshan
J
Qiu
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
Michel W
MW
Barsoum
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104; gogotsi@drexel.edu.
Yury
Y
Gogotsi
2D material; MXene; composite; film; supercapacitor