Multifunctional, Superelastic, and Lightweight MXene/Polyimide Aerogels

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemistry

Background:

• Two-dimensional transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) possess unique properties but are challenging to assemble into freestanding 3D structures due to weak intersheet interactions.
• Developing macroscopic MXene architectures is crucial for leveraging their potential in various applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a strategy for constructing multifunctional, superelastic, and lightweight 3D MXene architectures.
• To overcome the limitations of weak intersheet interactions in MXene assembly.

Main Methods:

• An interfacial enhancement strategy was employed, bridging individual MXene sheets with polyimide macromolecules.
• Fabrication of a lightweight aerogel based on this strategy.

Main Results:

• The resulting 3D MXene aerogel demonstrated superelasticity with high reversible compressibility and 20% stretchability.
• The material exhibited excellent fatigue resistance (1000 cycles at 50% strain) and high electrical conductivity (≈4.0 S m⁻¹).
• Exceptional microwave absorption performance was achieved, with a maximum reflection loss of -45.4 dB and a wide effective absorption bandwidth of 5.1 GHz.

Conclusions:

• The developed interfacial enhancement strategy successfully created robust, multifunctional 3D MXene architectures.
• The superelastic and conductive aerogel shows significant promise for applications in damping, microwave absorption, and flexible strain sensing.