Rational Design of Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub> MXene Inks for Conductive, Transparent Films.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36749603.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acsnano.2c11180 and PMC identifier 9979651.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) with a high figure of merit (FOM<sub>e</sub>, defined as the ratio of transmittance to sheet resistance) are crucial for transparent electronic devices, such as touch screens, micro-supercapacitors, and transparent antennas. Two-dimensional (2D) titanium carbide (Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub>), known as MXene, possesses metallic conductivity and a hydrophilic surface, suggesting dispersion stability of MXenes in aqueous media allowing the fabrication of MXene-based TCEs by solution processing. However, achieving high FOM<sub>e</sub> MXene TCEs has been hindered mainly due to the low intrinsic conductivity caused by percolation problems. Here, we have managed to resolve these problems by (1) using large-sized Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub> flakes (∼12.2 μm) to reduce interflake resistance and (2) constructing compact microstructures by blade coating. Consequently, excellent optoelectronic properties have been achieved in the blade-coated Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub> films, <i>i</i>.<i>e</i>., a DC conductivity of 19 325 S cm<sup>-1</sup> at transmittances of 83.4% (≈6.7 nm) was obtained. We also demonstrate the applications of Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub> TCEs in transparent Joule heaters and the field of supercapacitors, showing an outstanding Joule heating effect and high rate response, respectively, suggesting enormous potential applications in flexible, transparent electronic devices.