MXene- New Family of 2-D Metal Carbides and Nitrides

PHILADELPHIA (August 22, 2011) – An urgent challenge currently faced by researchers and the public alike is the ability to identify the next generation of sustainable, cost-effective, and energy efficient materials for our everyday use.  While searching for new materials for electrical energy storage, a team of Drexel University materials scientists has discovered a new family of two-dimensional compounds proposed to have unique properties that may lead to groundbreaking advances in energy storage technology.

The research team led by Dr. Yury Gogotsi, Distinguished University Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute and Dr. Michel Barsoum, Grosvenor and Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, has recently published a paper titled "Two-Dimensional Nanocrystals Produced by Exfoliation of Ti3AlC2," appearing in the highly prestigious journalAdvanced Materials.  In their paper, the research team recounts their ability to transform three dimensional titanium-aluminum carbide, a typical representative of a family of layered ternary carbides called MAX phases, into a two dimensional structure with greatly different properties.  MAX phases, known as ductile and machineable ceramics, have been researched by Prof. Barsoum’s lab for more than a decade and dozens of layered carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides with a variety of properties have been synthesized. However, these ceramics have always been produced as 3-dimensional materials.

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Source: http://nano.materials.drexel.edu/

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