Scalable Synthesis of Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> MXene

TLDR

Scaling production of synthetic 2D materials to industrial quantities has faced bottlenecks, but MXenes can be produced via a top‑down selective wet‑etching approach that scales with reactor volume. The study investigates whether scaling the synthesis of Ti₃C₂Tₓ MXene to 1‑ and 50‑g batches alters its structure or composition. The authors performed a top‑down selective wet‑etching synthesis, scaling the reaction volume to 1 and 50 g to test scalability. Characterization shows that MXene produced in both batch sizes is essentially identical in morphology and properties, indicating no change upon scaling.

Abstract

Scaling the production of synthetic 2D materials to industrial quantities has faced significant challenges due to synthesis bottlenecks whereby few have been produced in large volumes. These challenges typically stem from bottom‐up approaches limiting the production to the substrate size or precursor availability for chemical synthesis and/or exfoliation. In contrast, MXenes, a large class of 2D transition metal carbides and/or nitrides, are produced via a top‐down synthesis approach. The selective wet etching process does not have similar synthesis constraints as some other 2D materials. The reaction occurs in the whole volume; therefore, the process can be readily scaled with reactor volume. Herein, the synthesis of 2D titanium carbide MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x ) is studied in two batch sizes, 1 and 50 g, to determine if large‐volume synthesis affects the resultant structure or composition of MXene flakes. Characterization of the morphology and properties of the produced MXene using scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering, Raman spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV–visible spectroscopy, and conductivity measurements show that the materials produced in both batch sizes are essentially identical. This illustrates that MXenes experience no change in structure or properties when scaling synthesis, making them viable for further scale‐up and commercialization.