TY - JOUR
T1 - Boosting Thermal Generation in Cation-Exchanged Transparent MXene Composite Films with Hierarchical Wrinkled Structure
AU - Li, Siteng
AU - Liu, Zhifang
AU - Pan, Xingling
AU - Wang, Huaipeng
AU - Li, Mingjie
AU - Hu, Jianzhi
AU - Ding, Yingtao
AU - Sun, Yilin
AU - Chen, Zhiming
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Efficient thermal generation from solar/electric energy in transparent films remains challenging due to the limited toolbox of high-performance thermal generation materials and methods for microstructure engineering. Here, we proposed a two-step strategy to introduce hierarchical wrinkles to the MXene composite films with high transparency, leading to upgraded photo/electrothermal conversion efficiency. Specifically, the thin film contains protic acid-treated MXene layers assembled with Ag nanowires (H-MXene/Ag NWs). The hydrogen-bonding interaction between MXene and Ag NWs in a MXene-based thin film forms the first-level wrinkles, while the cation-exchanged method is then developed to enhance conductivity and form the second-level wrinkles. The H-MXene/Ag NWs composite transparent film is observed to achieve a surface temperature rise of 40 °C relative to an ambient environment under 1.0 sun illumination and 70 °C at 1 V voltage in the dark, along with notable photo/electrothermal production stability under ambient conditions. Moreover, experimental and theoretical results show that the improved heat production capability is mainly due to low reflectivity led by the wrinkles and high conductivity led by the cation-exchange process. On the basis of the excellent photothermal generation capability of the H-MXene/Ag NWs composite transparent film, we applied it to biomimetic soft robots and flexible wearable devices. This work paves a novel strategy for the generation of thermal production devices that achieve high-performance photo/electroconversion.
AB - Efficient thermal generation from solar/electric energy in transparent films remains challenging due to the limited toolbox of high-performance thermal generation materials and methods for microstructure engineering. Here, we proposed a two-step strategy to introduce hierarchical wrinkles to the MXene composite films with high transparency, leading to upgraded photo/electrothermal conversion efficiency. Specifically, the thin film contains protic acid-treated MXene layers assembled with Ag nanowires (H-MXene/Ag NWs). The hydrogen-bonding interaction between MXene and Ag NWs in a MXene-based thin film forms the first-level wrinkles, while the cation-exchanged method is then developed to enhance conductivity and form the second-level wrinkles. The H-MXene/Ag NWs composite transparent film is observed to achieve a surface temperature rise of 40 °C relative to an ambient environment under 1.0 sun illumination and 70 °C at 1 V voltage in the dark, along with notable photo/electrothermal production stability under ambient conditions. Moreover, experimental and theoretical results show that the improved heat production capability is mainly due to low reflectivity led by the wrinkles and high conductivity led by the cation-exchange process. On the basis of the excellent photothermal generation capability of the H-MXene/Ag NWs composite transparent film, we applied it to biomimetic soft robots and flexible wearable devices. This work paves a novel strategy for the generation of thermal production devices that achieve high-performance photo/electroconversion.
KW - hierarchical wrinkled structure
KW - high transparency
KW - photoelectrical/thermal generation
KW - protic acid treatment
KW - TiCT MXene
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85215407210&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.4c19561
DO - 10.1021/acsami.4c19561
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85215407210
SN - 1944-8244
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
ER -