Novel two-dimensional Ti3C2Tx MXenes/nano- carbon sphere hybrids for high-performance microwave absorption

Ti3C2Tx MXenes are highly desirable as a microwave absorption material because of their unique two-dimensional (2D) laminated structure, native defects and surface functional groups (-OH and -F). However, the conductivity of Ti3C2Tx MXenes is too high to meet the requirement of impedance matching, which results in strong reflection and weak absorption. In order to enhance the microwave absorption of Ti3C2Tx MXenes, a novel 2D laminated structure of Ti3C2Tx MXenes/nano-carbon-sphere hybrids is designed and successfully prepared for the first time and the formation mechanism of the Ti3C2Tx MXenes/nano-carbon-sphere hybrids is discussed. In addition, the obtained 2D Ti3C2Tx MXenes/ nano-carbon-sphere hybrids exhibit excellent microwave absorption performance, which is mainly attributed to the unique microstructure of the Ti3C2Tx MXenes/nano-carbon-sphere hybrids, and the formation of a heterogeneous interface structure, which plays an important role in microwave absorption. The Ti3C2Tx MXenes/nano-carbon-sphere hybrids exhibit an optimal reflection loss (RL) of 54.67 dB at 3.97 GHz. Thus, the Ti3C2Tx MXenes/nano-carbon-sphere hybrids are expected to be a candidate material for microwave absorption applications.