Sequentially Bridged Ti₃C₂T<i>_x</i> MXene Sheets for High Performance Applications

Abstract

Abstract The outstanding electrical conductivity and high specific capacitance of 2D Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene have made them promising materials for a wide range of applications including wearable electronics, energy storage, sensors, and electromagnetic interference shielding. However, the fabrication of MXene architectures, both pure and composite, often results in a trade‐off in properties. Here, it is reported that sequential bridging of MXene sheets significantly enhances the mechanical properties of its free‐standing films, with improvements in strength and toughness of up to ≈ 339 MPa and ≈ 12.0 MJ m −3 , respectively, while simultaneously retaining both high conductivity ( ≈ 4850 S cm −1 ) and volumetric capacitance ( ≈ 1220 F cm −3 ). This sequential bridging strategy permits surface modification of MXene sheets while still yielding stable colloidal dispersions so that the subsequent MXene films comprise of aligned, evenly‐spaced, and interconnected sheets, which are critical for the development of robust energy storage devices and other high performance applications.