Defect Engineering: Synthesis and Electrochemical Properties of Two-Dimensional Mo_1.74CT MXene.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Two-dimensional materials like graphene and MXenes show promise for sustainable applications.
• Introducing vacancies and pores can enhance their performance.
• Controlled synthesis of these defects remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a simple, reproducible method for synthesizing defect-rich MXenes.
• To control vacancy and pore characteristics in MXenes.
• To improve MXene performance for energy storage applications.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized a Cr-alloyed MAX-phase precursor (Mo1.74Cr0.26Ga2C).
• Utilized selective etching of Ga and Cr to create vacancies and pores.
• Characterized the resulting Mo1.74CT MXene using structural and compositional analysis.

Main Results:

• Successfully produced Mo1.74CT MXene with randomly distributed vacancies and pores.
• Cr incorporation led to shorter etching times and higher yields compared to Mo2CT.
• Mo1.74CT MXene exhibited significantly enhanced electrochemical properties, nearly doubling capacitance.

Conclusions:

• Defect engineering of MXenes via precursor alloying is a viable strategy.
• This method offers a pathway to tailor MXene properties for advanced applications.
• The approach is potentially generalizable to other MXene phases.