In situ XRD study of MXene synthesis by etching Ti3AlC2 with molten tetramethylammonium hydroxide

Résumé fourni par la source

The main goal is to study the structural changes of MAX phase during reaction with molten Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH). Until now, TMAOH was used for MAX phase etching only using relatively dilute aqueous solutions. Fluoride-free etching method proposed here is completely novel and likely to result in homogeneously terminated of MXene 2D sheets. According to preliminary ex situ results, etching in molten TMAOH is relatively rapid but incomplete significantly slowing down after first two hours. The reasons for incompleteness of the reaction are not clear and need to be verified, Ex-situ studies are not capable of detecting possible intermediate phases formed in the process of etching and are not sufficient for evaluating the MXene formation mechanism. It is expected that time resolved synchrotron radiation XRD investigations will provide key information about the intermediate phases formed during MXene synthesis and will contribute to the design of new, improved synthesis.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.