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A Sweet Synthesis of MXenes.

Wenkang XuZenan ShiZhiyang YuChao PengGuangxing YangHao-Fan WangJiangnan HuangYonghai CaoHongjuan WangLibo LiHao Yu
Published in: Nano letters (2024)
Two-dimensional transition metal carbides/nitrides (MXenes) have shown great promise in various applications. However, mass production of MXenes suffers from the excessive use of toxic fluorine-containing reagents. Herein, a new method was validated for synthesizing MXenes from five MAX ceramics. The method features a minimized (stoichiometric) dosage of F-containing reagent (NaBF 4 ) and polyols (glycerol, erythritol, and xylitol) as the reaction solvent. Due to the sweetness of polyols and the low environmental impact, we refer to this method as a "sweet" synthesis of MXenes. An in-depth molecular dynamics simulation study, combined with experimental kinetic parameters, further revealed that the diffusion of F - in the confined interplanar space is rate-determining for the etching reaction. The expansion of interlayer spacing by polyols effectively reduces the diffusion activation energy of F - and accelerates the etching reaction.
Keyphrases
  • molecular dynamics
  • transition metal
  • density functional theory
  • optical coherence tomography
  • computed tomography
  • body mass index
  • solar cells
  • risk assessment
  • big data
  • pet imaging