Dispersion and Stabilization of Alkylated 2D MXene in Nonpolar Solvents and Their Pseudocapacitive Behavior

Michael Carey; Zachary Hinton; Varun Natu; Rahul Pai; Maxim Sokol; Nicolas J. Alvarez; Vibha Kalra; Michel W. Barsoum

Cell Reports Physical Science (Apr 2020)

Dispersion and Stabilization of Alkylated 2D MXene in Nonpolar Solvents and Their Pseudocapacitive Behavior

Michael Carey,
Zachary Hinton,
Varun Natu,
Rahul Pai,
Maxim Sokol,
Nicolas J. Alvarez,
Vibha Kalra,
Michel W. Barsoum

Affiliations

Michael Carey: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Zachary Hinton: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Varun Natu: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Rahul Pai: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Maxim Sokol: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Nicolas J. Alvarez: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Vibha Kalra: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Michel W. Barsoum: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Corresponding author

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 1, no. 4
p. 100042

Abstract

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Summary: To date, MXene dispersions have been mostly limited to polar solvents. Here, we show that when the lithium cations present between MXene multilayers after etching are exchanged with di(hydrogenated tallow)benzyl methyl ammonium chloride (DHT), they become organophilic and form highly stable colloidal suspensions in nonpolar solvents. The rapid cation exchange occurs under ambient conditions and the resulting two-dimensional flakes are well dispersed and remain oxide free. A 142 ± 0.7-μm thick film (≈10 mg ⋅ cm−2) made from a DHT-Ti3C2Tz suspension in toluene exhibits pseudocapacitive behavior, with a capacitance of 305 F ⋅ g−1 at a scan rate 2 mV ⋅ s−1. The moduli and tensile strengths of solution-processed polyethylene nanocomposites are increased by ≈11% and 32% with a loading of ≈1 vol% DHT-Ti3C2Tz. Our approach may enable the use of MXenes in multiple research and industrial fields.

Published in Cell Reports Physical Science

ISSN: 2666-3864 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Science: Physics
Website: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science

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