All-Liquid Reconfigurable Electronics Using Jammed MXene Interfaces.

Rigid, solid-state components represent the current paradigm for electronic systems, but they lack post-production reconfigurability and pose ever-increasing challenges to efficient end-of-life recycling. Liquid electronics may overcome these limitations by offering flexible in-the-field redesign and separation at end-of-life via simple liquid phase chemistries. Up to now, preliminary work on liquid electronics has focused on liquid metal components, but these devices still require an encapsulating polymer and typically use alloys of rare elements like indium. Here, using the self-assembly of jammed two-dimensional titanium carbide (Ti 3 C 2 T x ) MXene nanoparticles at liquid-liquid interfaces, we describe "all-liquid" electrically conductive sheets, wires, and simple functional devices including electromechanical switches and photodetectors. These assemblies combine the high conductivity of MXene nanosheets with the controllable form and reconfigurability of structured liquids. Such configurations could have applications not only in electronics, but also in catalysis and microfluidics, especially in systems where the product and substrate have affinity for solvents of differing polarity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.