Abstract
Direct printing of functional inks is critical for applications in diverse areas including electrochemical energy storage, smart electronics and healthcare. However, the available printable ink formulations are far from ideal. Either surfactants/additives are typically involved or the ink concentration is low, which add complexity to the manufacturing and compromises the printing resolution. Here, we demonstrate two types of two-dimensional titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) MXene inks, aqueous and organic in the absence of any additive or binary-solvent systems, for extrusion printing and inkjet printing, respectively. We show examples of all-MXene-printed structures, such as micro-supercapacitors, conductive tracks and ohmic resistors on untreated plastic and paper substrates, with high printing resolution and spatial uniformity. The volumetric capacitance and energy density of the all-MXene-printed micro-supercapacitors are orders of magnitude greater than existing inkjet/extrusion-printed active materials. The versatile direct-ink-printing technique highlights the promise of additive-free MXene inks for scalable fabrication of easy-to-integrate components of printable electronics.
Highlights
Direct printing of functional inks is critical for applications in diverse areas including electrochemical energy storage, smart electronics and healthcare
The asobtained multi-layered (m-) Ti3C2Tx "cake", which swells after multiple washes (Supplementary Fig. 2), was subjected to vigorous manual shaking in water or bath sonication in organic solvent for delamination
Unlike other 2D materials, which typically require the addition of surfactants or polymer stabilizers[12,13], the negative electrostatic charge on the hydrophilic Ti3C2Tx nanosheets leads to stable aqueous inks containing clean and predominantly single-layered flakes (Supplementary Figs. 3, 4)
Summary
Direct printing of functional inks is critical for applications in diverse areas including electrochemical energy storage, smart electronics and healthcare. The versatile direct-ink-printing technique highlights the promise of additive-free MXene inks for scalable fabrication of easy-to-integrate components of printable electronics. While elaborate patterning techniques, such as lithography, spray-masking and laser-scribing can partially resolve the problems[5,6,7], the sophisticated processing and inefficient material utilization in these protocols limit the large-scale production of MSCs. In other words, incorporating nanomaterials with excellent charge-storage capability into low-cost manufacturing routes is in high demand. Direct ink writing of functional materials offers a promising strategy for scalable production of smart electronics with a high degree of pattern and geometry flexibility[8,9,10,11,12]. Compared with conventional manufacturing protocols, direct ink writing techniques, such as inkjet printing and extrusion printing, allow digital and additive patterning, customization, reduction in material waste, scalable and rapid production, and so on[13,14]. All-printed MXene MSCs with fine resolution using direct ink printing techniques have yet to be developed
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