Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials like graphene have received great research attention for several years, but a new generation of atom-thick materials – MXenes – has recently captured the interest of materials science researchers and nanotechnology developers alike.
Synthesizing MXene Nanomaterials
MXenes are 2D nanomaterials that exhibit high conductivity, high surface area, high functionalization, a site of hydroxide, and many other interesting properties. They were only discovered in 2011, but have been the subject of many studies ever since.
MXenes are inorganic compounds measuring only a few atoms in thickness and are made up of metal carbides, nitrides, or carbonitrides. These materials combine the metallic conductivity of the transition metal carbides with hydrophilic features imparted by their hydroxyl- or oxygen-terminated surfaces.
The first MXene nanomaterial to be reported in 2011 was Ti4N3. Though, this compound is synthesized in a slightly different manner to most of the other MXenes developed since.
Ti4N3 is synthesized by mixing TI4AlN3 with a molten eutectic fluoride salt made up of lithium fluoride, sodium fluoride, and potassium fluoride. This mixture is treated at a high temperature, causing the Al to etch out and yield multilayered Ti4N3.
This material is then delaminated into single layers by immersion in tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and a subsequent sonication step.
Most MXene nanomaterials, however, are synthesized in a top-down (subtractive) selective etching process. This process is scalable without exhibiting any loss or change in the nanomaterials’ properties when batch sizes increase.
The top-down etching process uses strong etching solutions with a fluoride ion such as hydrofluoric acid (HF), ammonium bifluoride (NH4HF2), or a mixture of lithium fluoride (LiF) and hydrochloric acid (HCI).
For example, aqueous HF at room temperature is used to etch the MXene material Ti3AlC2. The HF selectively removes the Al atoms so that the surface of the carbide layers becomes terminated by O or F atoms.
MXene is also sometimes obtained from Lewis acid molten salts like ZnCl2. This method synthesizes a Cl-terminated MXene structurally stable up to 750 °C.
Rapid Progress in MXene Research
So far, 27 MXene materials have been synthesized. These are formed from elements like titanium, zirconium, molybdenum, niobium, tungsten, and hydrogen, along with carbon.
There have been numerous applications for the materials already. Mxenes are employed as conductive layered materials with tunable surface terminations in energy storage applications, both in Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors.
Applications as photocatalytic cells, transparent conducting electrodes, and neural electrodes also capitalize on Mxenes’ unique electrochemical properties.
The nanomaterials can be used in water purification, gas sensing, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), and electrochromic devices.
Key Applications for the Future of Mxene Nanomaterials
The remarkable and unique properties of Mxene nanomaterials have led researchers tackling science’s major challenges to consider how the materials could be useful in their work. As such, Mxene’s have been investigated for use in environmental projects, cleaner energy production, and lifesaving medical technologies.
Environmental Clean Up and Water Sustainability
Mxene’s high surface area, biological compatibility (non-toxicity), robust electrochemistry, and high hydrophilicity make them ideal candidates for advanced environmental clean technologies.
Nanoarchitectures based on Mxene materials can mitigate the role of inorganic pollutants in interfacial chemical transformation and sorption in ecosystems.
They achieve this through three main mechanisms: surface complexation and sorption, catalytic activation and removal, and radical generation-based photocatalytic degradation.
When applied to drinking water sources and water waste, MXene-based filtration systems can have significant impacts on both local communities’ health and wellbeing, as well as the overall health of their surrounding environments.
Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Energy
According to many forecasters, hydrogen will play a crucial role in transitioning from a fossil-fuel based economy to clean renewable energy. Generating hydrogen with water electrolysis is the preferred solution at present, being the cleanest and most sustainable method.
The development of non-noble metal electrocatalysts is a hot topic of research in hydrogen power. MXene nanomaterials have recently been explored as potential electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysis.
The materials display good HER activity and remarkable stability and may help us to break free from fossil fuels.
Biomedical Applications
MXenes may even save lives, as they are currently being explored for numerous biomedical applications. Their non-toxicity and unique properties make them interesting to researchers working on antibacterial safety, advanced medical imaging technologies, biosensing devices, tissue regeneration, and even cancer therapies.
Still, MXenes’ appropriateness and potential for biomedical applications are still not fully understood. As such, many are invested in characterizing the unique nanomaterials. Doing so would aid in understanding their interactions with other materials, especially organic matter, and fully estimating their potential for use in lifesaving medical technology.
News
GHCE Concept
From the preface of the book Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artificial Intelligence, Edited by Frank Boehm: Since the publication of my first book (Nanomedical Device and Systems [...]
Human Bodies Are Producing Two Billion Tons of CO2 a Year
A new study reveals that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by human metabolism has increased dramatically over three decades. The carbon dioxide produced by human bodies as they convert food into energy increased [...]
A Hidden DNA Mechanism Could Explain How 20% of Human Cancers Develop
Researchers have identified an unexpected molecular vulnerability in cancers carrying BAF mutations. Mutations found in roughly 20% of human cancers may promote tumor growth by changing how DNA is organized inside cells. Researchers have [...]
Ebola kills over 5,300 in fastest-growing outbreak on record
Africa’s latest Ebola outbreak has killed nearly 5,400 people, the vast majority of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the continent’s top health agency. Africa Centres for Disease Control and [...]
China makes early progress in using sound waves to stimulate damaged brains
Chinese researchers are testing whether focused ultrasound can help restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, adding to a growing international effort to use sound waves to stimulate deep brain structures without surgery. [...]
Micro-drones fly through the body thanks to ultrasound
At the EPFL, micro-drones have been developed that can be moved without a motor or battery.No motors, no batteries, no electronics on board, just small cavities that convert sound waves into thrust: this is [...]
A Single Enzyme Could Hold the Key to Treating a Devastating Brain Disorder
Blocking an enzyme’s production restored brain growth and healthy behaviors in mice engineered to develop Angelman syndrome, pointing to a possible treatment target. Children with Angelman syndrome begin to show difficulties with thinking and [...]
Scientists Develop a Clever New Way To Kill Cancer Cells From the Inside
Scientists have developed an experimental strategy that exploits a chemical byproduct of cancer cells to produce anticancer drugs directly inside them. Scientists in Japan have developed an experimental method that uses a chemical produced [...]
Our books are available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
After only a short training, people in a coma managed to send targeted signals
Researchers have succeeded in communicating with brain-injured patients who are unconscious. They see enormous potential in this for future treatments. Patients who lie motionless in bed after a severe brain injury and do not [...]
MIT Scientists Reprogram Immune Cells Inside the Body To Destroy Cancer
Natural killer cells reprogrammed inside mice eliminated lymphoma tumors and helped damaged livers heal, though whether this approach could help people with cancer or autoimmune disease remains unknown. To make a cancer treatment from [...]
Melanoma mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Preventing Disease Recurrence
Key takeaways: Phase 3 trial finds personalized intismeran plus pembrolizumab may better prevent high-risk melanoma recurrence after surgery The trial enrolled 1,137 patients and builds on phase 2 results showing about half the recurrence [...]
Scientists Discover a Powerful New Weapon Against a Dangerous Gut Infection
The promise of an experimental treatment for C. difficile gut infections lies partly in the bacteria it leaves alive, according to early laboratory and mouse research. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt the gut’s microbial community, [...]
Your Bones May Hold a Hidden Clue to Blood Cancer Survival
For people with blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes, osteoporosis may hold an overlooked clue to survival, a three-year observational study suggests. In blood cancers that develop in the bone marrow, an important clue to [...]
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far [...]
Scientists Discover a Hidden Trigger That Keeps Inflammation Alive
Inflammation persists after proteins detach from immune receptors, revealing a potential target for autoimmune treatments. Since a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in the 1990s identified molecules called Toll-like Receptors as the guardians of the human [...]
