Sequentially Bridged Ti3C2Tx MXene Sheets for High Performance Applications

The outstanding electrical conductivity and high specific capacitance of 2D Ti3C2Tx MXene have made them promising materials for a wide range of applications including wearable electronics, energy storage, sensors, and electromagnetic interference shielding. However, the fabrication of MXene architectures, both pure and composite, often results in a trade-off in properties. Here, it is reported that sequential bridging of MXene sheets significantly enhances the mechanical properties of its free-standing films, with improvements in strength and toughness of up to approximate to 339 MPa and approximate to 12.0 MJ m(-3), respectively, while simultaneously retaining both high conductivity (approximate to 4850 S cm(-1)) and volumetric capacitance (approximate to 1220 F cm(-3)). This sequential bridging strategy permits surface modification of MXene sheets while still yielding stable colloidal dispersions so that the subsequent MXene films comprise of aligned, evenly-spaced, and interconnected sheets, which are critical for the development of robust energy storage devices and other high performance applications.