Fluorine-free mechanochemical synthesis of MXene

Abstract

MXene is a 2D transition metal carbide/nitride with excellent electrical, optical and mechanical properties. At present, most MXenes are prepared from the MAX phase by chemical etching with HF or HCl/LiF. This method is very limited in terms of large-scale production owing to the hazardous and toxic fluoride-containing reagents. There is an urgent need to explore safe and reliable synthetic methods to prepare MXene. In this short communication, we describe the mechanochemical route for preparation of the Ti 3 C 2 T x from the Ti 3 AlC 2 . The prepared MXene has been studied by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV/Vis) spectrophotometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results reported here have paved the way for new preparation methods for the fluorine-free MXenes.