Scalable Fabrication of Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub><i>x</i></sub> MXene/RGO/Carbon Hybrid Aerogel for Organics Absorption and Energy Conversion
Degang Jiang, Jizhen Zhang, Si Qin, Dylan Hegh, Ken Aldren S. Usman, Jinfeng Wang, Weiwei Lei, Jingquan Liu, Joselito M. Razal
Abstract
High aspect ratio two-dimensional Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene flakes with extraordinary mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties are ideal candidates for assembling elastic and conductive aerogels. However, the scalable fabrication of large MXene-based aerogels remains a challenge because the traditional preparation method relies on supercritical drying techniques such as freeze drying, resulting in poor scalability and high cost. Herein, the use of porous melamine foam as a robust template for MXene/reduced graphene oxide aerogel circumvents the volume shrinkage during its natural drying process. Through this approach, we were able to produce large size (up to 600 cm 3 ) MXene-based aerogel with controllable shape. In addition, the aerogels possess an interconnected cellular structure and display resilience up to 70% of compressive strain. Some key features also include high solvent absorption capacity (∼50–90 g g –1 ), good photothermal conversion ability (an average evaporation rate of 1.48 kg m –2 h –1 for steam generation), and an excellent electrothermal conversion rate (1.8 kg m –2 h –1 at 1 V). More importantly, this passive drying process provides a scalable, convenient, and cost-effective approach to produce high-performance MXene-based aerogels, demonstrating the feasibility of commercial production of MXene-based aerogels toward practical applications.