Ultrastrong MXene composite fibers through static-dynamic densification for wireless electronic textiles

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Textile Engineering

Background:

• MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheets in macroscopic fibers suffer from wrinkles and voids, compromising mechanical and electrical properties.
• Preserving intrinsic properties of 2D materials in bulk forms is a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a continuous fabrication method for kilometer-scale ultrastrong MXene composite fibers.
• To overcome limitations of inherent wrinkles and voids in MXene-based fibers.
• To enhance mechanical strength and electrical conductivity for advanced applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a static filling technique with short carbon nanotubes.
• Employed dynamic thermal drawing with polylactic acid to bridge MXene nanosheets via hydrogen bonds.
• Implemented a static-dynamic densification strategy to reduce voids and improve nanosheet orientation.

Main Results:

• Achieved a record tensile strength of ~941.5 MPa for the composite fibers.
• Obtained high electrical conductivity of ~3899.0 S cm⁻¹ for composite fibers and ~12,836.4 S cm⁻¹ for the inner MXene fiber.
• Reduced fiber porosity to ~4.2% and increased nanosheet orientation factor to ~0.945.

Conclusions:

• The static-dynamic densification strategy effectively fabricates ultrastrong and highly conductive MXene composite fibers.
• The developed fibers enable applications in smart textiles for wireless health monitoring, drone operation, and communication.
• This versatile strategy provides a general pathway for high-performance functional fiber fabrication.