Rapid preparation, thermal stability and electromagnetic interference shielding properties of two-dimensional Ti3C2 MXene

Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) MXenes have attracted much attention due to their unique structural characteristics and novel performance in a variety functions. The fabrication of 2D Ti 3 C 2 MXene by acid etching usually requires a long period of over 10 h. In this work, we report on the rapid preparation, thermal stability and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of 2D Ti 3 C 2 MXene. With the processing conditions optimized by adjusting the etching time and temperature, Ti 3 C 2 MXene with a scattered accordion-like structure has been successfully achieved by etching Ti 3 AlC 2 powders with 40% HF at 50 °C for only 0.5 h. The as-synthesized Ti 3 C 2 was stable at temperatures up to 300 °C in air, but stable in vacuum at temperatures up to 800 °C. The as-synthesized Ti 3 C 2 MXene has good EMI shielding performance. The total shielding effectiveness of Ti 3 C 2 in a WAX matrix exceeded 20 dB in the whole frequency ranging from 2 to 18 GHz. The maximum shielding effectiveness value achieved to 34 dB at 18 GHz as the Ti 3 C 2 content was up to 70 wt%. This work provides an approach for the large scale preparation of the Ti 3 C 2 MXene.