Ti3C2Tx MXene Research Articles

In Situ Construction of Bimetallic Selenides Heterogeneous Interface on Oxidation-Stable Ti3C2Tx MXene Toward Lithium Storage with Ultrafast Charge Transfer Kinetics.

Ti3C2Tx (MXene) is widely acknowledged as an excellent substrate for constructing heterogeneous structures with transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) for boosting the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion storage. However, conventional synthesis strategies inevitably lead to poor electrochemical charge transfer due to Ti3C2Tx-derived TiO2 at the heterogeneous interface between Ti3C2Tx and TMCs. Here, an innovative in situ selenization strategy is proposed to replace the originally generated TiO2 on Ti3C2Tx with metallic TiSe2 interphase, clearing the bottleneck of slow charge transfer barrier caused by MXene oxidation. The construction of bimetallic selenide formed by CoSe2 and TiSe2 generates intrinsic electric fields to guide the fast ion diffusion kinetics in a heterogeneous interface. Additionally, the CoSe2/TiSe2/Ti3C2Tx heterogeneous structure with enhanced structural stability and improved rate performance is confirmed by both experiments and theoretical calculations. The engineered heterogeneous structure exhibits an ultra-high pseudocapacitance contribution (73.1% at 0.1mVs-1), rendering it well-suited to offset the kinetics differences between double-layer materials. The assembled lithium-ion capacitor based on CoSe2/TiSe2/Ti3C2Tx possesses a high energy density and an ultralong life span (89.5% after 10000 times at 2Ag-1). This devised strategy provides a feasible solution for utilizing the performance advantages of MXene substrates in lithium storage with ultrafast charge transfer kinetics.

Enhancing Conductivity in Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells with Silver Nanowire-Assisted Ti3C2Tx MXene Electrodes for Cost-Effective and Scalable Photovoltaics.

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells have set world-record efficiencies among single-junction silicon solar cells, accelerating their commercial deployment. Despite these clear efficiency advantages, the high costs associated with low-temperature silver pastes (LTSP) for metallization have driven the search for more economical alternatives in mass production. 2D transition metal carbides (MXenes) have attracted significant attention due to their tunable optoelectronic properties and metal-like conductivity, the highest among all solution-processed 2D materials. MXenes have emerged as a cost-effective alternative for rear-side electrodes in SHJ solar cells. However, the use of MXene electrodes has so far been limited to lab-scale SHJ solar cells. The efficiency of these devices has been constrained by a fill factor (FF) of under 73%, primarily due to suboptimal charge transport at the contact layer/MXene interface. Herein, a silver nanowire (AgNW)-assisted Ti3C2Tx MXene electrode contact is introduced and explores the potential of this hybrid electrode in industry-scale solar cells. By incorporating this hybrid electrode into SHJ solar cells, 9.0 cm2 cells are achieved with an efficiency of 24.04% (FF of 81.64%) and 252 cm2 cells with an efficiency of 22.17% (FFof 76.86%), among the top-performing SHJ devices with non-metallic electrodes to date. Additionally, the stability and cost-effectiveness of these solar cells are discussed.

The phosphorus doping modification of Ti3C2Tx MXene films assisted by tripolyphosphate-crosslinking for flexible supercapacitors

MXenes is a new two-dimensional material with good electrical conductivity and high theoretical pseudocapacitance, which is widely used in various energy storage devices. Heterogeneous atom doping is one of the effective strategies to adjust the properties of MXenes and improve its electrochemical performance. In this work, a facile and cost-effective KTPP (potassium tripolyphosphate, phosphorus source) assistance strategy is demonstrated to dope Ti3C2Tx MXene with phosphorus atoms by heat treatment. The results show that the phosphorus doping level reached 1.25 at.%. As expected, the specific capacitance of the phosphate-doped Ti3C2Tx electrode is 365.1 F g−1 at the scanning rate of 10 mV s−1, which is twice that of the pristine Ti3C2Tx (183.1 F g−1). Besides, the flexible supercapacitor device assembled with Ti3C2Tx-P-300°C-3h sample has a high energy density of 10.76 Wh kg−1 at 483.03 W kg−1 power density and the capacitance retention rate is 84.51 % after 5000 cycles at the current density of 1 A g−1. With bent at different angles (0°, 60°, 90°, 120°), the specific capacitance values of flexible supercapacitor devices have not changed significantly, and the capacitance retention rate reached 90.09 %. The reason for the enhanced electrochemical performance is that the phosphorus doping can increase the active sites of Ti3C2Tx, bring PO bonds that enhance activity, optimize the redox reaction process, and accelerate the ion transport rate. Therefore, a simple and effective method to improve the electrochemical performance of Ti3C2Tx MXene is proposed in this work.

Nitrogen-doping engineering in two-dimensional transition-metal carbides for electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Developing electrocatalysts with the trade-off between overall electrocatalytic performance and economic cost towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for producing green hydrogen fuels. Although theoretical studies have reported the potential of two-dimensional (2D) MXenes for the HER, their electrocatalytic performance is still unsatisfactory for the particular application due to their low intrinsic active and MXene stacking. To address this problem, we herein modify the electronic structure and increase the interlayer spacing between 2D Ti3C2Tx MXenes through ammonia (NH3)-assisted hydrothermal approach. The effect of synthesis temperature on the nitrogen doping mechanism and electrochemical behaviors for the HER is systemically explored. As a result, the nitrogen (N)-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene fabricated at 160 °C exhibits the highest HER activity among all 2D N-doped Ti3C2Tx nanosheets with the overpotential/Tafel slope of 186.91 mVRHE/115.94 mVRHE dec−1 in an acidic solution. Due to the synergistic contribution of nitrogen, the N-doped Ti3C2Tx-160 °C has mass activity of 337.95 mA mg−1 at 0.3 VRHE, being 27.50-fold higher than that of pristine Ti3C2Tx. This work indicated that heteroatom doping is a facile but efficient approach for modulating the electronic structure and intrinsic activity of MXene-based materials for electrochemical reactions.

Ti3C2Tx MXene enhanced PEO/SN-based solid electrolyte for high-performance Li metal battery

Succinonitrile has shown significant promise for application in polymer electrolytes for solid-state lithium metal batteries due to its high ionic conductivity at low-temperature. However, the use of Succinonitrile is limited due to its corrosion of Li metal. Herein, we report a solid polymer electrolyte with high ionic conductivity (2.17 × 10−3 S cm−1, 35 °C) enhanced by Ti3C2Tx. Corrosion of the Li anode is prevented due to the Succinonitrile molecules being efficiently anchored by Ti3C2Tx. Meanwhile, the coordination environment of Li+ is weakened due to the introduction of competitive coordination induction effects into the polymer electrolyte, resulting in efficient Li+ conduction. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the electrolyte are enhanced by modulating the ratio of Ti3C2Tx to suppress the growth of Li dendrites. Therefore, Li||Li symmetric batteries deliver stable cycling up to 8000 h at 28 °C. LiFePO4||Li full batteries exhibit excellent cycling stability of 151.7 mAh g−1 with a capacity retention of 99.3% after 300 cycles. This work not only presents a new idea to suppress the corrosion of the Li anode by Succinonitrile but also provides a simple, feasible, and scalable strategy for high-performance Li metal batteries.

Bidirectional, Multilayer MXene/Polyimide Aerogels for Ultra-Broadband Microwave Absorption.

To obtain high-performance electromagnetic microwave (EM) absorption materials with broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) and reduced thickness, designing structures has proved to be a promising way. Herein, ultra-broadband multilayer bidirectional MXene/polyimide EM absorption aerogels containing multi-structures on scales ranging from the micro- to the macroscale are produced with the aid of electric and temperature fields. On the microscale, under the action of electric force and temperature gradient, the ordered structures made of aligned Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets and the microscale layered aerogel walls enable the bidirectional aerogel to achieve a wide EAB of 8.58GHz at a thickness of 2.1mm. This is ascribed to the numerous aligned nanosheets and layered aerogel walls perpendicular to the incident EMs, facilitating the conversion of electromagnetic energy into electrical energy. Furthermore, on the macroscale, the multilayer bidirectional aerogel with non-gradient structures effectively resolves the conflict between impedance matching and energy loss, resulting in an ultrawide EAB of 9.41GHz at a thickness of 3mm. This innovative design of electric-field-assisted multilayer bidirectional aerogels with multiscale structural coupling may provide feasible and effective pathways for the development of advanced EM absorption materials.

Ti3C2TX MXene/loofah-derived carbon aerogel for high-efficiency adsorption of organic pollutants in wastewater

The contamination of wastewater by organic pollutants significantly impacts human health and the environment due to their carcinogenic nature and various adverse effects. To address this issue, this study offers a high-efficiency and low-cost biomass-based carbon aerogel adsorbent, which was prepared through the hydrothermal carbonization of loofah, followed by Ti3C2TX MXene impregnation. The aerogel features a porous three-dimensional network structure and a substantial specific surface area, facilitating broad-spectrum adsorption capabilities for various dyes and drugs. The aerogel achieved impressive adsorption capacities of 175.29 and 75.73 mg/g for cationic methylene blue and Rhodamine B dyes, and 106.33 and 93.29 mg/g for anionic methyl orange and Congo red dyes, as well as 86.25 mg/g for tetracycline hydrochloride, surpassing other reported biomass-based aerogels. Furthermore, it demonstrated effective decolorization ability for wastewater containing mixed dyes. Notably, it exhibited excellent recycling and regeneration properties, maintaining a high removal rate after multiple cycles of adsorption–desorption. The adsorption process of dye/drug by the aerogel followed Langmuir’s monomolecular layer adsorption model, exhibiting spontaneous, endothermic, and disorder-increasing behavior in alignment with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. This study presents an efficient biomass-based aerogel for the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater.

A polyurea capturing both high strength and rapid self-healing tailored for intelligent barrier anti-corrosion system

The long-term repair of organic coatings in underwater environments is hindered by microcracks and their poor healing performance. In this study, a high-strength and rapidly self-healing polyurea (PU3) coating that combines asymmetric dense stacking of supramolecular units with mismatched rigid and flexible polymer chains was developed. By exploiting the interaction between a 2D sheet-like Ti3C2TX MXene and finely tailored hydrogen-bonded structures of PU3, a smart biomimetic anticorrosion composite coating (PU3-1.0 wt% MXene) was produced. This coating achieved rapid (15 s), specific, and repeatable in situ repair underwater when exposed to near infrared laser light. Electrochemical tests confirmed its excellent anticorrosion capability.

Silica-Ti3C2Tx MXene Nanoarchitectures with Simultaneous Adsorption and Photothermal Properties.

Layered Ti3C2Tx MXene has been successfully intercalated and exfoliated with the simultaneous generation of a 3D silica network by treating its cationic surfactant intercalation compound (MXene-CTAB) with an alkoxysilane (TMOS), resulting in a MXene-silica nanoarchitecture, which has high porosity and specific surface area, together with the intrinsic properties of MXene (e.g., photothermal response). The ability of these innovative MXene silica materials to induce thermal activation reactions of previously adsorbed compounds is demonstrated here using NIR laser irradiation. For this purpose, the pinacol rearrangement reaction has been selected as a first model example, testing the effectiveness of NIR laser-assisted photothermal irradiation in these processes. This work shows that Ti3C2Tx-based nanoarchitectures open new avenues for applications that rely on the combined properties inherent to their integrated nanocomponents, which could be extended to the broader MXene family.

Flexible all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor based on Ti3C2Tx MXene/graphene/carbon nanotubes

As the emerging 2D materials, MXenes have been regarded as promising electrode materials in supercapacitor as power supply for wearable and portable electronic devices due to their metallic conductivity, hydrophilic feature, abundant functional groups, and large theoretical specific surface area etc. The capacity and rate capability of MXene-based electrodes is limited by the sheet restacking, hindering their further development. Herein, Ti3C2Tx MXene/graphene/carbon nanotubes (MXene/graphene/CNTs) flexible film was successfully fabricated by vacuum assisted filtration. Intercalation and confinement of graphene and carbon nanotubes between the Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets could increase the spacing and specific surface area, alleviate the stacking of MXene nanosheets, thus enhancing the electrochemical properties. The prepared MXene/graphene/CNTs film possesses increased specific surface area, average pore size, pore volume (112.259 m2g−1, 9.982 nm, 0.276 cm3g−1), compared to MXene (93.088 m2g−1, 3.786 nm, 0.088 cm3g−1). Consequently, MXene/graphene/CNTs delivers high area specific capacitance of 1862.5 mF cm−2 at 1 mA cm−2 and excellent rate capability (1525 mF cm−2, 81.88 % at 20 mA cm−2). Flexible asymmetric supercapacitor constructed with MXene/graphene/CNTs film and active carbon as positive and negative electrodes, and PVA/H2SO4 gel as solid electrolyte, achieves an energy density of 133.75 μWh cm−2 at the power density of 750 μW cm−2. In addition, there is still 94.9 % of the initial performance after cycling 8000 charge/discharge cycles at 10 mA cm−2, corresponding to a single-turn decay rate down to 0.00019 %. Besides, this flexible supercapacitor manifests outstanding electrochemical stability at different bending times. These advantages make the flexible supercapacitor device very promising for wearable electronics applications.

Flexible room temperature gas sensor based on α-Fe2O3/Ti3C2Tx MXene composites for ppb-level H2S detection

Ti3C2Tx MXene have attracted enormous attention in portable, wearable electronics areas due to its excellent flexible, electrical conductivity and outstanding physical and chemical properties. Here, 2D α-Fe2O3/Ti3C2Tx MXene composites were synthesized by in-suit growth of α-Fe2O3 on the surface of Ti3C2Tx MXene and between the layers of Ti3C2Tx MXene by solvothermal and annealing methods. Compared with pure α-Fe2O3, the optimal α-Fe2O3/Ti3C2Tx MXene composites exhibited excellent gas sensitive performance (100 ppm can reach 20.27) and a theoretical ultra-low limit-of-detection of 10.19 ppb to H2S gas at room temperature (25 ○C). The combination of α-Fe2O3 and Ti3C2Tx lead to the layer spacing of Ti3C2Tx MXene are further enlarged which is more favorable for H2S gas adsorption. And the excellent performance is maintained even under bending conditions. This work provides a new idea for MOS/Ti3C2Tx MXene in the field of flexible room temperature sensors.

Advancements in Ti3C2Tx MXene Stability: Synergistic Antioxidant Strategies and Their Impact on Long-Lasting Flexible Sensors.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides (Ti3C2Tx MXene) have demonstrated substantial application potential across various fields, owing to their excellent metallic conductivity and solution processability. However, the rapid oxidation of Ti3C2Tx in aqueous environments, leading to a loss of stability within mere days, poses a significant obstacle for its practical applications. Herein, we introduce an antioxidant strategy that combines free radical scavenging with surface passivation, culminating in the design and synthesis of imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) incorporating siloxane groups. By deploying a straightforward hydrolysis-addition reaction, we successfully fabricated IL-modified Ti3C2Tx materials (Ti3C2Tx-IL). The Ti3C2Tx -IL not only displayed exceptional conductivity exceeding 3.85 × 104 S/m and hydrophilic contact angles below 45° but also showcased its superior chemical stability and antioxidation mechanisms through various analyses, including visual color change experiments, spectroscopic and energy spectrum characterization, free radical scavenging tests, and density-functional-theory-based molecular simulations. Furthermore, when utilized as a conductive filler in the fabrication of a poly(vinyl alcohol)/nanocellulose fiber (PVA/CNF) composite hydrogel (PCMIL), the resultant sensors exhibited remarkable mechanical performance with up to 535% strain, 1.59 MPa strength, 4.35 MJ/m3 toughness, and a conductivity of 3.40 mS/cm, as well as a high sensitivity gauge factor of 3.3. Importantly, even after 45 days of storage, the PCMIL retained most of its functionalities, demonstrating superior performance in human-machine interaction applications compared to hydrogels made from unmodified Ti3C2Tx. This research establishes a robust antioxidant protection strategy for Ti3C2Tx, offering substantial technical reinforcement for its prospective applications in the realm of flexible electronics and sensing technologies.

Optimizing the Synthesis of Titanium Carbide-Bismuth Oxide for Enhanced Antimicrobial Properties.

Background The two-dimensional MXene, known as titanium carbide (Ti₃C₂), is characterized by its substantial interlayer spacing, extensive surface area, hydrophilic nature, exceptional thermal stability, and outstanding electrical conductivity. These distinctive attributes render Ti₃C₂ an ideal candidate for detecting target analytes and immobilizing biomolecules. Bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃), an essential compound of bismuth, frequently acts as a foundational element in bismuth chemistry. Its applications are diverse, from fireworks to oxygen gas sensors and solid oxide fuel cells, with particular emphasis on its behaviour under elevated temperatures and pressures. Notably, phase transitions to various polymorphs, which remain metastable at room temperature, have been documented under these conditions, indicating potential for numerous applications. Integrating MXene with Bi₂O₃ composites holds significant promise for advancements in energy-related electronics, sensing technologies, and photocatalytic processes. Objective To optimize the synthesis of titanium carbide-bismuth oxide (Ti₃C₂-Bi₂O₃) nanoparticles to enhance their antimicrobial activity by identifying the best synthesis conditions and assessing their effectiveness against various microbial pathogens. Materials and methods The preparation of Ti₃C₂ MXene involves dissolving lithium fluoride in hydrochloric acid, followed by Ti₃AlC₂ and stirring at 40°C for 48 hours. The resulting pellet is then dispersed in ultrapure water and centrifuged to obtain the MXene dispersion. Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles are prepared by preparing bismuth nitrate pentahydrate in nitric acid and adding sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH. The resulting white precipitate is filtered, washed, and dried before being calcined at 400°C for two hours to produce Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles. The Ti₃C₂-Bi₂O₃ composite is synthesized by adding Bi(NO₃)₃ solution to a 5 mg/mL Ti₃C₂Tx MXene solution. The reaction solution is heated to 160°C, and the resulting black powder is labelled as x% Bi₂O₃/MXene. The antimicrobial efficacy of the nanoparticles is assessed using the disk diffusion method. The zones of inhibition are measured and analyzed as indicators of antimicrobial activity. Results The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed the presence of Bi₂O₃ particles alongside Ti₃C₂​​​​​​​ nanosheets, while the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the high crystallinity of the compound. Furthermore, the compound was determined to be impurity-free and demonstrated antimicrobial properties. Conclusion The XRDanalysis confirms the effective integration of various materials and the existence of crystalline phases. SEMprovides insights into the morphology and organization of particles within sheets, whereas EDSassesses the elemental composition and its uniform distribution. These studies demonstrate the synthesis of Ti₃C₂-Bi₂O₃​​​​​​​ composites, suggesting their potential for usage in applications involving antimicrobial action.

Customized Pore Creation Strategies for Hyperelastic, Robust, Insulating Multifunctional MXene Aerogels for Microwave Absorption.

The construction of heterogeneous microstructure and the selection of multicomponents have turned into a research hotspot in developing ultralight, multifunctional, high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorbing (EMA) materials. Although aerogels are promising materials to fulfill the above requirements, the increase in functional fillers inevitably leads to the deterioration of intrinsic properties. Tuning the electromagnetic properties from the structural design point of view remains a difficult challenge. Herein, we design customized pore creation strategies via introducing sacrificial templates to optimize the conductive path and construct the discontinuous dielectric medium, increasing dielectric loss and achieving efficient microwave absorption properties. A 3D porous composite (MEM) was crafted, which encapsulated an EVA/FeCoNi (EVA/MNPs) framework with Ti3C2Tx MXene coating by employing a direct heated cross-linking and immersion method. Controllable adjustment of the conductive network inside the porous structure and regulation of the dielectric character are achieved by porosity variation. Eventually, the MEM-5 with a porosity of 66.67% realizes RLmin of -39.2 dB (2.2 mm) and can cover the entire X band. Moreover, through off-axis electronic holography and the calculation of conduction loss and polarization loss, the dielectric property is deeply investigated, and the inner mechanism of optimization is pointed out. Thanks to the inherent characteristic of EVA and the porous structure, MEM-5 showed excellent thermal insulating and superior compressibility, which can maintain 60 °C on a 90-100 °C continuous heating stage and reached a maximum compressive strength of 60.12 kPa at 50% strain. Conceivably, this work provides a facile method for the fabrication of highly efficient microwave absorbers applied under complex conditions.

Ti3C2Tx MXene/Graphene hybrid frameworks for constructing thermally conductive phase change composites with solar-thermal conversion ability

Application of three-dimensional (3D) carbon framework in phase change material (PCM) has aroused a tremendous interest. However, implementing a high alignment carbon framework with low interfacial thermal resistance (ITR) remain challenging. Herein, we demonstrated a synergetic effect strategy by Ti3C2Tx MXene and graphene nanoplate (GNP) to achieve a 3D thermally conductive framework with high alignment skeleton and low filler-to-filler ITR. Typically, the 3D anisotropic carbon framework is fabricated by unidirectional ice template freezing cellulose nanofibers (CNF)/GNP solution with the assistance of MXene. The abundant functional groups of MXene and the similar layered structure promote the dispersion stability of GNP in CNF aqueous solution, resulting in the significant improvement in GNP alignment and the filler-to-filler ITR. Therefore, the final phase change composites obtained by impregnating polyethylene glycol (PEG) into the framework achieves a satisfactory thermal conductivity (TC) of up to 3.49 W/m K at only 6.25 vol% filler loading. Combining the solar-thermal conversion ability of graphene and MXene, the PCM reveals a rapid energy conversion, transfer and storage capability. More importantly, the phase change enthalpy of the PCM can be as high as 164.3 J/g, with little change even after 50 heating-cooling cycles, and the existence of carbon framework can effectively prevent the leakage phenomenon in solid-liquid conversion process, ensuring its shape stability.

Thermal vapor sulfurization of Ti3C2TX MXene to TiS2/carbon nanosheet cathode for long-life and high-loading all-solid-state lithium batteries

Stable and fast operation of all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSBs) depends on durable and sufficient interfacial contacts between electrode components, especially when the loading and content of electrode active materials are high. Here, we propose promoting ionic/electronic transportations and contacts in sulfide electrolyte-based ASSBs by using TiS2/carbon nanosheets (TiS2/C-s) with large area-to-thickness aspect ratios as the cathode, which are prepared by simple thermal vapor sulfurization of exfoliated Ti3C2Tx MXene. The elastic 2D structure of the TiS2/C-s material can substantially improve interfacial contact with the solid electrolyte, minimize the diffusion distance of lithium ions, and buffer volume/stress changes during cycling, thereby ensuring the electro-chemo-mechanical stability and fast reaction kinetics of electrodes. Consequently, a 50 wt% TiS2/C-s cathode without any conductive carbon additives demonstrates a high discharge capacity (295 mAh g−1), long-term cyclic stability (94.7 and 74.7 % capacity retention after 250 cycles at 0.1 mA cm−2 and after 2300 cycles at 1 mA cm−2, respectively), and decent rate capability (126.0 mAh g−1 at 3 mA cm−2). Moreover, stable cycling with a high areal capacity (5.95 mAh cm−2) can also be achieved.

Ti3C2Tx/Bi2WO6 composite nanomaterials for triethylamine detection at room temperature

Low-power triethylamine (TEA) detection at room temperature (RT) is becoming increasingly significant in practical scenarios. As a novel two-dimensional material, Ti3C2Tx MXene has a high potential in the field of chemical sensing at RT. It is essential to acquire the composition of the surface functional groups for Ti3C2Tx since the surface chemistry is crucial for a strong interplay between the target gas and Ti3C2Tx. In this work, the surface functional groups were quantitatively evaluated (approximately 40 % -O, 60 % -F) based on the combined usage of XPS analysis and DFT simulations. Ti3C2F1.2O0.8 was determined to be metallic according to the calculated total density of states and band structure. A metal-semiconductor-type composite nanostructures based on the single/few-layer Ti3C2Tx and Bi2WO6 microcages were fabricated with different Ti3C2Tx mass percentages. 0.1 wt% Ti3C2Tx/Bi2WO6 composite demonstrates a response enhancement by 52 % compared with the pristine Bi2WO6 in the detection of 500 ppm TEA at RT. Besides, the sensitization mechanism is ascribed to the abundant surface functional groups and the catalytic effect of Ti3C2Tx.

Sensitive sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensing of p53 protein based on Ti3C2Tx MXene nanoribbons and ferrocene/gold

Since the p53 protein is an important promising biomarker of lung tumor and colorectal tumor, it is very essential to design a highly effective mean to monitor the degree of p53 for the early clinical analysis/therapy of the related tumors. In this work, a sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensing (SES) platform is proposed for the first time to detect p53 via synthesizing Ti3C2Tx MXene nanoribbons (Ti3C2Tx Nb) and ferrocene/gold nanoparticles (Fc/Au) respectively as the sensing substrate and signal-amplifier. The superior electrical property and large surface area of Ti3C2Tx Nb are beneficial to assemble the initial p53-antibodies (Ab1), while the synthesized Fc/Au is devoted to assemble the secondary p53 antibodies (Ab2) and gives a magnified signal. By adopting the Fc molecules as the probes, the experiments reveal the response current of Fc resulted from the SES structure increases along with the p53 increase from 1.0 to 200.0 pg mL−1. A considerable low detection limit (1.0 pg mL−1) is achieved after optimizing several key conditions, it is thus confirmed the as-proposed SES mean exhibits significant application in the detection of p53 protein and other targets.

Enhanced Room-Temperature NO2 Sensing through Deep Functional Group Hybridization in Nitrogen-Doped Monolayer Ti3C2Tx.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a significant environmental and human health hazard. Current NO2 sensors often lack sensitivity and selectivity under ambient conditions. This study investigates ammonia pyrolysis modification of monolayer Ti3C2Tx MXene to enhance NO2 detection at room temperature. Nitrogen-doped Ti3C2Tx demonstrates a substantial improvement in sensitivity, with a response of 8.87% to 50 ppm of NO2 compared to 0.65% for the original sensor, representing a 13.8-fold increase. The nitrogen-doped sensor also exhibits superior selectivity and linearity for NO2 under ambient conditions. Theoretical analysis shows that nitrogen incorporation promotes enhanced interaction between Ti3C2Tx and its surface oxygen-containing functional groups through electronic hybridization, resulting in improved adsorption energy (1.80 |eV|) and electron transfer efficiency (0.67 |e|) for NO2, thereby enhancing its gas-sensing performance. This study highlights the potential of ammonia pyrolysis-treated Ti3C2Tx MXene for advancing NO2 sensor technologies with heightened performance at room temperature.

Construction of 0D Ti3C2Tx MXene nanoparticles sensitized 1D TiO2 nanotube arrays for enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical properties

Developing efficient photocatalysts with highly active facets and appropriate cocatalyst hybridization to form heterostructure is a valid way to expedite the separation of photoexcited electron-hole pairs. Herein, a novel 0D/1D Ti3C2Tx MXene/TiO2 photocatalyst was fabricated for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting and tetracycline antibiotic photocatalytic degradation. Meanwhile, highly-exposed TiO2 nanotube arrays were prepared by electrochemical anodizing method, and Ti3C2Tx nanoparticles with mixed terminal group were uniformly grown on the surface of TiO2 through the hydrothermal and solvothermal process, respectively. Compared with pure TiO2, the Ti3C2Tx/TiO2 heterostructure exhibited different degrees of enhancement in PEC and photocatalytic degradation activities under simulated sunlight. The TNT/M-h sample yielded a photocurrent density of 1.77 mA cm−2 at 0 V (vs. SCE) and achieved a 95.57 % photocatalytic removal rate of tetracycline within 140 min. The excellent performance originated from the strong interfacial contact and work function discrepancy between the ordered tubular structure of TiO2 and 0D Ti3C2Tx nanoparticles, which realized the high-efficiency photogeneration and transfer of electron-hole pairs.