MXene Printing and Patterned Coating for Device Applications

As a thriving member of the 2D nanomaterials family, MXenes, i.e., transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides, exhibit outstanding electrochemical, electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. They have been exploited in many applications including energy storage, electronics, optoelectronics, biomedicine, sensors, and catalysis. Compared to other 2D materials, MXenes possess a unique set of properties such as high metallic conductivity, excellent dispersion quality, negative surface charge, and hydrophilicity, making them particularly suitable as inks for printing applications. Printing and pre/post-patterned coating methods represent a whole range of simple, economically efficient, versatile, and eco-friendly manufacturing techniques for devices based on MXenes. Moreover, printing can allow for complex 3D architectures and multifunctionality that are highly required in various applications. By means of printing and patterned coating, the performance and application range of MXenes can be dramatically increased through careful patterning in three dimensions; thus, printing/coating is not only a device fabrication tool but also an enabling tool for new applications as well as for industrialization

MXene Printing and Patterned Coating for Device Applications

As a thriving member of the 2D nanomaterials family, MXenes, i.e., transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides, exhibit outstanding electrochemical, electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. They have been exploited in many applications including energy storage, electronics, optoelectronics, biomedicine, sensors, and catalysis. Compared to other 2D materials, MXenes possess a unique set of properties such as high metallic conductivity, excellent dispersion quality, negative surface charge, and hydrophilicity, making them particularly suitable as inks for printing applications. Printing and pre/post-patterned coating methods represent a whole range of simple, economically efficient, versatile, and eco-friendly manufacturing techniques for devices based on MXenes. Moreover, printing can allow for complex 3D architectures and multifunctionality that are highly required in various applications. By means of printing and patterned coating, the performance and application range of MXenes can be dramatically increased through careful patterning in three dimensions; thus, printing/coating is not only a device fabrication tool but also an enabling tool for new applications as well as for industrialization

Tunable Multipolar Surface Plasmons in 2D Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> MXene Flakes

2D Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> MXenes were recently shown to exhibit intense surface plasmon (SP) excitations; however, their spatial variation over individual Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> flakes remains undiscovered. Here, we use scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) combined with ultra-high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) to investigate the spatial and energy distribution of SPs (both optically active and forbidden modes) in mono- and multilayered Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> flakes. With STEM-EELS mapping, the inherent interband transition in addition to a variety of transversal and longitudinal SP modes (ranging from visible down to 0.1 eV in MIR) are directly visualized and correlated with the shape, size, and thickness of Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> flakes. The independent polarizability of Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> monolayers is unambiguously demonstrated and attributed to their unusual weak interlayer coupling. This characteristic allows for engineering a class of nanoscale systems, where each monolayer in the multilayered structure of Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> has its own set of SPs with distinctive multipolar characters. Moreover, the tunability of the SP energies is highlighted by conducting <i>in situ heating</i> STEM to monitor the change of the surface functionalization of Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> through annealing at temperatures up to 900 °C. At temperatures above 500 °C, the observed fluorine (F) desorption multiplies the metal-like free electron density of Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i> flakes, resulting in a monotonic blue-shift in the SP energy of all modes. These results underline the great potential for the development of Ti₃C₂<i>T</i>_<i>x</i>-based applications, spanning the visible–MIR spectrum, relying on the excitation and detection of single SPs

Room-Temperature Reactivity Of Silicon Nanocrystals With Solvents: The Case Of Ketone And Hydrogen Production From Secondary Alcohols: Catalysis?

Although silicon nanoparticles dispersed in liquids are used in various applications ranging from biolabeling to hydrogen production, their reactivities with their solvents and their catalytic properties remain still unexplored. Here, we discovered that, because of their surface structures and mechanical strain, silicon nanoparticles react strongly with their solvents and may act as catalysts for the dehydrogenation, at room temperature, of secondary alcohols (e.g., isopropanol) into ketones and hydrogen. This catalytic reaction was monitored by gas chromatography, pH measurements, mass spectroscopy, and solid-state NMR. This discovery provides new understanding of the role played by silicon nanoparticles, and nanosilicon in general, in their reactivity in solvents in general, as well as being candidates in catalysis

Quantum Tunneling Effect in CsPbBr₃ Multiple Quantum Wells

Two-dimensional (2D) lead halide perovskites (LHPs) have garnered incredible attention thanks to their exciting optoelectronic properties and intrinsic strong quantum confinement effect. Herein, we carefully investigate and decipher the charge carrier dynamics at the interface between CsPbBr3 multiple quantum wells (MQWs) as the photoactive layer and TiO2 and Spiro-OMeTAD as electron and hole transporting materials, respectively. The fabricated MQWs comprise three monolayers of CsPbBr3 separated by 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BCP) as barriers. By varying the BCP thickness, we show that charge carrier extraction from MQWs to the corresponding extracting layer occurs through a quantum tunneling effect, as elaborated by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements and further verified by femtosecond transient absorption experiments. Ultimately, we have investigated the impact of the barrier-thickness-dependent quantum tunneling effect on the photoelectric behavior of the synthesized QW photodetector devices. Our findings shed light on one of the most promising approaches for efficient carrier extraction in quantum-confined systems