Adhesion Between MXenes and Other 2D Materials

MXenes, a large family of two-dimensional (2D) early transition metal carbides and nitrides, have excellent electrical and electrochemical properties, which can also be explored in assemblies with other 2D materials, like graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), creating heterostructures with unique properties. Understanding the interaction mechanism between 2D materials is critical for the design and manipulation of these 2D heterostructures. Our previous work investigated the interaction between SiO₂ and two MXenes (Ti₃C₂T and Ti₂CT). However, no experimental research has been done on MXene interlayer interactions and interactions in MXene heterostructures. Here, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) with SiO₂ tip and Ti₃C₂T and Ti₂CT MXene-coated tips, respectively, to measure the adhesion energies of graphene, MoSe₂, Ti₃C₂T, and Ti₂CT MXene with other 2D materials. The measured adhesion energies show that only the interfaces involving graphene demonstrate dependence on the number of material monolayers in a stack. Comparing 40 interacting pairs of 2D materials, the lowest adhesion energy (∼0.27 J/m²) was found for the interfaces involving MoSe₂ and the highest adhesion energy was observed for the interfaces involving Ti₃C₂T (∼1.23 J/m²). The obtained set of experimental data for 2D interfaces involving MXenes provides a basis for a future in-depth understanding of adhesive mechanisms at interfaces between 2D materials, which is an important topic for the design of 2D heterostructures with controlled interfacial strength and properties.