Highly Efficient Photothermal Conversion of Ti3C2Tx/Ionic Liquid Gel Pen Ink for Smoothly Writing Ultrasensitive, Wide-Range Detecting, and Flexible Thermal Sensors.

Photothermal conversion behavior has a vital application to disease therapy, water purification, or uncontacted heaters. The fabrication of high-performance photothermal conversion materials especially for near-infrared (NIR) light and microstructures has attracted a great deal of attention. Among numerous substances, MXene as a new type of 2D material with semi-metallic and unique electromagnetic properties presents a broader absorption of light and even a typical plasmonic absorption near the NIR-I area (808 nm), which has made it suitable for photothermal conversion. Here, we propose a facile approach for preparing a Ti3C2Tx/ionic liquid ink with a high photothermal conversion efficiency. The as-prepared ink has showed good wettability of various substrates as well as the high sensitivity of 808 nm NIR light irradiation and a wide range of thermal variation. After packing the ink into a gel pen refill, the flexible thermal chips could be easily obtained just by pen writing on the soft surface with the designed size, which also have become an optimal candidate for the thermal alarm system.