A Sweet Synthesis of MXenes
Wenkang Xu, Zenan Shi, Zhiyang Yu, Chao Peng, Guangxing Yang, Haofan Wang, Jiangnan Huang, Yonghai Cao, Hongjuan Wang, Libo Li, Hao Yu
Abstract
Two-dimensional transition metal carbides/nitrides (MXenes) have shown great promise in various applications. However, mass production of MXenes suffers from the excessive use of toxic fluorine-containing reagents. Herein, a new method was validated for synthesizing MXenes from five MAX ceramics. The method features a minimized (stoichiometric) dosage of F-containing reagent (NaBF 4 ) and polyols (glycerol, erythritol, and xylitol) as the reaction solvent. Due to the sweetness of polyols and the low environmental impact, we refer to this method as a “sweet” synthesis of MXenes. An in-depth molecular dynamics simulation study, combined with experimental kinetic parameters, further revealed that the diffusion of F – in the confined interplanar space is rate-determining for the etching reaction. The expansion of interlayer spacing by polyols effectively reduces the diffusion activation energy of F – and accelerates the etching reaction.