C&E News, the leading source of chemistry and research news, has published an extensive article on the current state of MXene research.
First discovered in 2011, MXenes are two-dimensional (2D) carbides and nitrides that constitute a family of 30+ members with different chemical compositions and chemical order. Since then, the research field has exploded with international interest, with many new compositions routinely discovered.
For researchers, the ease of MXene synthesis and their stability as colloidal suspensions in water and various organic solvents have made this class of material relatively easy to process and scale-up.
Additionally, it has been shown that, for many applications, MXenes outperform existing 2D materials.
According to the article, the task now is to find a path forward to establish commercial manufacturing goals.
“Now studied by researchers worldwide, MXenes may soon play a transformative role in energy storage, electronics, optics, biomedicine, and catalysis…But to make a real impact, researchers must tailor MXenes to improve their chemical stability and identify ways to manufacture them inexpensively at large scale.”