Synthesis and thermal stability of two-dimensional carbide MXene Ti3C2

Abstract

Abstract We investigated the synthesis of quasi-two-dimensional carbide (Ti 3 C 2 ), with the name of MXene, by immersing Ti 3 AlC 2 in 40% or 49% hydrofluoric acid (HF) at 0 °C, 15 °C or 60 °C. The influences of time, temperature, and source of Ti 3 AlC 2 on the synthesis were researched. It was found that Ti 3 C 2 synthesized from pressureless synthesized Ti 3 AlC 2 was highly oriented compared to that from hot-pressed Ti 3 AlC 2 . As-synthesized Ti 3 C 2 could be further exfoliated by intercalation with urea, dimethylsulfoxide or ammonia. From the results of thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, Ti 3 C 2 MXene with F/OH termination was found to be stable in argon atmosphere at temperature up to 800 °C. In oxygen atmosphere, at 200 °C, parts of MXene layers were oxidized to obtain an interesting structure: anatase nano-crystals were evenly distributed on 2D Ti 3 C 2 layers. At 1000 °C, MXene layers were completely oxidized and anatase phase fully transformed to rutile in oxygen atmosphere.