Layer-by-layer self-assembly of pillared two-dimensional multilayers

Weiqian Tian; Armin VahidMohammadi; Zhen Wang; Liangqi Ouyang; Majid Beidaghi; Mahiar M Hamedi

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10631-0

Layer-by-layer self-assembly of pillared two-dimensional multilayers

Nat Commun. 2019 Jun 11;10(1):2558. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10631-0.

Authors

Weiqian Tian^{1

2}, Armin VahidMohammadi³, Zhen Wang^{1

2}, Liangqi Ouyang¹, Majid Beidaghi⁴, Mahiar M Hamedi^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 56, 10044, Stockholm, Sweden.
² Wallenberg Wood Science Centre, Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 56, 10044, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA.
⁴ Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA. mbeidaghi@auburn.edu.
⁵ Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 56, 10044, Stockholm, Sweden. mahiar@kth.se.
⁶ Wallenberg Wood Science Centre, Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 56, 10044, Stockholm, Sweden. mahiar@kth.se.

Abstract

We report Layer-by-Layer (LbL) self-assembly of pillared two-dimensional (2D) multilayers, from water, onto a wide range of substrates. This LbL method uses a small molecule, tris(2-aminoethyl) amine (TAEA), and a colloidal dispersion of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene to LbL self-assemble (MXene/TAEA)_n multilayers, where n denotes the number of bilayers. Assembly with TAEA results in highly ordered (MXene/TAEA)_n multilayers where the TAEA expands the interlayer spacing of MXene flakes by only ~ 1 Å and reinforces the interconnection between them. The TAEA-pillared MXene multilayers show the highest electronic conductivity of 7.3 × 10⁴ S m^-1 compared with all reported MXene multilayers fabricated by LbL technique. The (MXene/TAEA)_n multilayers could be used as electrodes for flexible all-solid-state supercapacitors delivering a high volumetric capacitance of 583 F cm^-3 and high energy and power densities of 3.0 Wh L^-1 and 4400 W L^-1, respectively. This strategy enables large-scale fabrication of highly conductive pillared MXene multilayers, and potentially fabrication of other 2D heterostructures.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Grants and funding

715268/EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council)/International