• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.17-33
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• 2022

Ti₃C₂T_X MXene, first reported by Naguib et al. in 2011, has attracted tremendous attention due to its excellent hydrophilicity, electrical conductivity, and mechanical/chemical stability. Since MXene is a two-dimensional material with a thickness of few nanometers, which ensure its flexibility. In last few years, due to these properties many researchers used Ti₃C₂T_X MXene into various fields such as flexible smart sensors, energy harvesting/storage devices, supercapacitors and electromagnetic interference shielding systems. In this review article, we have briefly discussed the various synthesis processes and characteristics of Ti₃C₂T_X MXene. Moreover, we reviewed the latest development of Ti₃C₂T_X MXene as flexible electrode material to be used into different applications.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.278-284
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• 2022

This study presents an excellent planar heater based on low-dimensional composites. By optimizing the ratio of 1D carbon nanotubes (CNT) and 2D MXene (Ti₃C₂T_X), it is possible to create a planar heater that has superior electrical conductivity and high heat generation characteristics. Low-dimensional composites were prepared by mixing CNT paste and MXene solution with eco-friendly waterborne polyurethane (WPU). In order to find the optimal mixing ratio for the MXene-CNT-WPU composites, samples with MXene to CNT weight ratios of 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, 1:7, and 1:14 were investigated. In addition to these different weight ratios, 5 wt% WPU was equally applied to each sample. It was confirmed that the higher the weight ratio of CNT, the lower the sheet resistance and the higher the heating temperature. In particular, when the MXene-CNT-WPU planar heater was fabricated by mixing MXene and CNT at a weight ratio of 1:7 and 1:14, the heating temperature was higher than the heating temperature of a CNT-WPU planar heater. These characteristics are due to the optimized mixture of the 1D materials (CNT) and the 2D materials (MXene) causing the formation of a flat surface and a dense network structure. The low-dimensional composites manufactured with the optimized mixing ratios found in this study are expected to be applied in flexible electronic devices.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.304-314
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• 2021

Climate change results in unusual weather pattern and affects annual rain fall severely. At the same time, growing industrialization leads to higher energy demand and leakage from petrochemical industry and tanker leads to water pollution. In this scenario, finding out solution to generate clean water is highly essential. For oil/water separation, there are several methods available such as chemical precipitation and adsorption but membrane separation technique is considered to be a more cost and energy efficient process. Amphiphilicity nature of membrane are enhanced by making composite membrane with 2D material such as MXene, resulting in good electrical conductivity and hydrophilicity. This review is mainly classified into two sections: pure MXene and modified MXene. A variety of polymer is used to prepare composite membranes and MXene is modified to further enhance the properties suitable for particular applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1201-1207
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• 2020

This study explored whether MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x) could remove radioactive Cs⁺ from model nuclear wastewater. Various adsorption tests were performed and the physical aspects of the interaction were investigated. We varied the MXene dosage, Cs⁺ initial concentration, solution pH, solution temperature and exposure time. MXene adsorption exhibited very fast kinetics, based on the fact that equilibrium was achieved within 1 h. MXene exhibited an outstanding adsorption capacity (148 mg g^-1) at adsorbent and adsorbate concentrations of 5 and 2 mg L^-1, respectively, at neutral pH condition (i.e., pH 7). We explored Cs⁺ adsorption by MXene in the presence of four different ions (NaCl, KCl, CaCl₂ and MgCl₂) and three different organic acids (sodium oleate, oxalic acid, and citric acid). The Cs⁺ removal rate changed in the presence of these components; adsorption of Cs⁺ by MXene thus involved ion exchange, supported by both Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We confirmed that MXene was re-usable for at least four cycles. MXene is cost-effective and practical when used to adsorb radionuclides (e.g., Cs⁺) in nuclear wastewater.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.264-269
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• 2022

Ti₃C₂T_x MXene, which is a representative of the two-dimensional MXene family, is attracting considerable attention due to its remarkable physicochemical and mechanical properties. Despite its strengths, however, it is known to be vulnerable to oxidation. Many researchers have investigated the oxidation behaviors of the material, but most researches were conducted at high temperatures above 500 ℃ in an oxidation-retarding environment. In this research, we studied changes in the structural and electrical properties of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene induced by low-temperature heat treatments in ambient conditions. It was found that a number of TiO₂ particles were formed on the MXene surface when it was mildly heated to 200 ℃. Heating the material to higher temperatures, up to 400 ℃, the phase transformation of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene to TiO₂ was accelerated, resulting in a TiO₂/Ti₃C₂T_x hybrid. Consequently, the metallic nature of pure Ti₃C₂T_x MXene was transformed to semiconductive behavior upon heat-treating at ≥ 200 ℃. The results of this research clearly demonstrate that Ti₃C₂T_x MXene may be easily oxidized even at low temperatures once it is exposed to air.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.181-190
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• 2023

Wastewater purification is one of the most important techniques for controlling environmental pollution and fulfilling the demand for freshwater supply. Various technologies, such as different types of distillations and reverse osmosis processes, need higher energy input. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an alternative method in which power consumption is deficient and works on the supercapacitor principle. Research is going on to improve the electrode materials to improve the efficiency of the process. A reverse electrodialysis (RED) is the most commonly used desalination technology and osmotic power generator. Among many studies conducted to enhance the efficiency of RED, MXene, as an ion exchange membrane (IEM) and 2D nanofluidic channels in IEM, is rising as a promising way to improve the physical and electrochemical properties of RED. It is used alone and other polymeric materials are mixed with MXene to enhance the performance of the membrane further. The maximum desalination performances of MXene with preconditioning, Ti₃C₂T_x, Nafion, and hetero-structures were respectively measured, proving the potential of MXene for a promising material in the desalination industry. In terms of osmotic power generating via RED, adopting MXene as asymmetric nanofluidic ion channels in IEM significantly improved the maximum osmotic output power density, most of them surpassing the commercialization benchmark, 5 Wm^-2. By connecting the number of unit cells, the output voltage reaches the point where it can directly power the electronic devices without any intermediate aid. The studies around MXene have significantly increased in recent years, yet there is more to be revealed about the application of MXene in the membrane and osmotic power-generating industry. This review discusses the electrodialysis process based on MXene composite membrane.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

Ti₃C₂T_x MXene, a 2D material, is known to exhibit unique characteristics that are strongly dependent on surface termination groups. Here, we developed a novel annealing approach with Ca as a reducing agent to simultaneously remove F and O groups from the surface of multilayered MXene powder. Unlike H₂ annealing that removes F effectively but has difficulty in removing O, annealing with Ca effectively removed both O and F. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that the proposed approach effectively removed F and O from the MXene powder. The results of O/N analyses showed that the O concentration decreased by 57.5% (from 2.66 to 1.13 wt%). In addition, XPS fitting showed that the volume fraction of metal oxides (TiO₂ and Al₂O₃) decreased, while surface termination groups (-O and -OH) were enhanced, which could increase the hydrophilic and adsorption properties of the MXene. These findings suggest that when F and O are removed from the MXene powder, the interlayer spacing of its lattice structure increases. The proposed treatment also resulted in an increase in the specific surface area (from 5.17 to 10.98 m²/g), with an increase in oxidation resistance temperature in air from ~436 to ~667 ℃. The benefits of this novel technology were verified by demonstrating the significantly improved cyclic charge-discharge characteristics of a lithium-ion battery with a Ca-treated MXene electrode.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.379-379
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• 2018

MXenes are a new family of 2D transition metal carbide nanosheets analogous to graphene (Lv et al., 2017; Sun et al., 2018). Due to the easy availability, hydrophilic behavior, and tunable chemistry of MXenes, their use in applications for environmental pollution remediation such as heavy metal adsorption has recently been explored (Li et al., 2017). In this study, three-dimensional (3D) MXene ($Ti_3C_2T_x$) films with high adsorption capacity, good mechanical strength, and high selectivity for specific radionuclide from aquose solution were successfully fabricated by a polymeric precursor method using vacuum-assisted filtration. The highest removal efficiency on the films was 99.54%, 95.61%, and 82.79% for $Sr^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$, and $Cs^+$, respectively, using a film dosage of 0.06 g/ L in the initial radionuclide solution (each radionuclide concentration = 1 mg/L and pH = 7.0). Especially, the adsorption process reached an equilibrium within 30 min. The expanded interlayer spacing of $Ti_3C_2T_x$ sheets in MXene films showed excellent radionuclide selectivity ($Cs^+$ and/or $Sr^{2+}/Co^{2+}$) (Simon, 2017). Besides, the MXene films was not only able to be easily retrieved from an aqueous solution by filtration after decontamination processes, but also to selectively separate desired target radionuclides in the solutions. Therefore, the newly developed MXene ($Ti_3C_2T_x$) films has a great potential for radionuclide removal from aqueous solution.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.295-299
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• 2023

Herein, we propose a simple fabrication method for MXene-coated V-groove sensors for applications. To enhance the sensitivity of this sensor, we applied MXene particles, instead of conventional metal layers, as a sensing material on the sensor's surface. This allows for an easier fabrication, as well as higher sensitivity of the sensor compared to those of our previously demonstrated metal-based V-groove sensor. Additionally, polyurethane-acrylate, a UV-curable liquid polymer, can be easily applied using micro-electromechanical systems-based surface-texture micromachining. The sensor sensitivity is approximately 0.08 /mm, and it can be improved by increasing the number of V-grooves. We believe that the proposed MXene-based wearable sensor offers a great potential in detecting various types of motions characteristic of human activities.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.111-118
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• 2023

MXene, a two-dimensional transition metal carbide or nitride, has recently attracted much attention as a lightweight and flexible electromagnetic shielding material due to its high electrical conductivity, good mechanical strength and thermal stability. In particular, the Ti-based MXene, Ti₃C₂T_x and Ti₂CT_x are reported to have the best electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding properties in the vast MXene family. Therefore, in this study, Ti₃C₂T_x and Ti₂CT_x films were prepared by vacuum filtration using Ti₃C₂T_x and Ti₂CT_x dispersions synthesized by interlayer metal etching and centrifugation of Ti₃AlC₂ and Ti₂AlC. The electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding efficiency of the films were measured after heat treatment at high temperature. Then, X-ray diffraction and photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to analyze the structural changes of Ti₃C₂T_x and Ti₂CT_x films after heat treatment and their effects on electromagnetic shielding. Based on the results of this study, we propose an optimal structure for an ultra-thin, lightweight, and high performance MXene-based electromagnetic shielding film for future applications in small and wearable electronics.