MXenes are a class of 2D nanomaterials with exceptional tailor-made properties such as mechano-ceramic nature, rich chemistry, and hydrophilicity, to name a few. However, one of the most challenging issues in any composite/hybrid system is the interfacial wetting. Having a superior integrity of a given composite system is a direct consequence of the proper wettability. While wetting is a fundamental feature, dictating many physical and chemical attributes, most of the common nanomaterials possesses poor affinity due to hydrophobic nature, making them hard to be easily dispersed in a given composite. Thanks to low contact angle, MXenes can offer themselves as an ideal candidate for manufacturing different nano-hybrid structures. Herein this review, it is aimed to particularly study the wettability of MXenes. In terms of the layout of the present study, MXenes are first briefly introduced, and then, the wettability phenomenon is discussed in detail. Upon reviewing the sporadic research efforts conducted to date, a particular attention is paid on the current challenges and research pitfalls to light up the future perspectives. It is strongly believed that taking the advantage of MXene's rich hydrophilic surface may have a revolutionizing role in the fabrication of advanced materials with exceptional features.

Department of Mechanical Engineering Isfahan University of Technology Daneshgah e Sanati Hwy Khomeyni Shahr Isfahan 84156 83111 Iran

Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials Palacký University in Olomouc Šlechtitelů 27 783 71 Olomouc Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Malaki M, Varma RS. Mechanotribological aspects of MXene-reinforced nanocomposites. Adv. Mater. 2020;32(38):2003154. doi: 10.1002/adma.202003154. PubMed DOI

Anasori B, Lukatskaya M, Gogotsi Y. 2D metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) for energy storage. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2017;2:16098. doi: 10.1038/natrevmats.2016.98. DOI

Shi Z, Khaledialidusti R, Malaki M, Zhang H. MXene-based materials for solar cell applications. Nanomaterials. 2021;11(12):3170. doi: 10.3390/nano11123170. PubMed DOI PMC

Z. Aghayar, M. Malaki, Y. Zhang, Mxene-based ink design for printed applications. Nanomaterials 12, 4346 (2022). 10.3390/nano12234346 PubMed PMC

M. Malaki, X. Jiang, H. Wang, R. Podila, H. Zhang et al., MXenes: from past to future perspectives. Chem. Eng. J. 463, 142351 (2023). 10.1016/j.cej.2023.142351

Soleymaniha M, Shahbazi MA, Rafieerad AR, Maleki A, Amiri A. Promoting role of MXene nanosheets in biomedical sciences: therapeutic and biosensing innovations. Adv. Healthc. Mater. 2018;8(1):1801137. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201801137. PubMed DOI

Iravani S, Varma RS. MXene-based composites as nanozymes in biomedicine: a perspective. Nano-Micro Lett. 2022;14:213. doi: 10.1007/s40820-022-00958-7. PubMed DOI PMC

Kamysbayev V, Filatov AS, Hu H, Rui X, Lagunas F, et al. Covalent surface modifications and superconductivity of two-dimensional metal carbide MXenes. Science. 2020;369(6506):979–983. doi: 10.1126/science.aba8311. PubMed DOI

Malaki M, Tehrani AF, Niroumand B, Gupta M. Wettability in metal matrix composites. Metals. 2021;11(7):1034. doi: 10.3390/met11071034. DOI

Hashim J, Looney L, Hashmi MSJ. The wettability of SiC particles by molten aluminium alloy. J. Mater. Proc. Technol. 2001;119(1):324–328. doi: 10.1016/S0924-0136(01)00975-X. DOI

Raj R, Maroo SC, Wang EN. Wettability of graphene. Nano Lett. 2013;13(4):1509–1515. doi: 10.1021/nl304647t. PubMed DOI

Singh B, Ali N, Chakravorty A, Sulania I, Ghosh S, et al. Wetting behavior of MoS2 thin films. Mater. Res. Express. 2019;6(9):096424. doi: 10.1088/2053-1591/ab2e5a. DOI

Laurent V, Rado C, Eustathopoulos N. Wetting kinetics and bonding of Al and Al alloys on α-SiC. Mater. Sci. Eng. A. 1996;205(1):1–8. doi: 10.1016/0921-5093(95)09896-8. DOI

Lim KRG, Shekhirev M, Wyatt BC, Anasori B, Gogotsi Y, et al. Fundamentals of MXene synthesis. Nat. Synth. 2022;1:601–614. doi: 10.1038/s44160-022-00104-6. DOI

Zeraati AS, Mirkhani SA, Sun P, Naguib M, Braun PV, et al. Improved synthesis of Ti3C2Tx MXenes resulting in exceptional electrical conductivity, high synthesis yield, and enhanced capacitance. Nanoscale. 2021;13(6):3572–3580. doi: 10.1039/D0NR06671K. PubMed DOI

Lipatov A, Alhabeb M, Lu H, Zhao S, Loes MJ, et al. Electrical and elastic properties of individual single-layer Nb4C3Tx MXene flakes. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2020;6(4):1901382. doi: 10.1002/aelm.201901382. DOI

Ghidiu M, Lukatskaya MR, Zhao M, Gogotsi Y, Barsoum MW. Conductive two-dimensional titanium carbide 'clay' with high volumetric capacitance. Nature. 2014;516:78–81. doi: 10.1038/nature13970. PubMed DOI

Gogotsi Y, Anasori B. The rise of MXenes. ACS Nano. 2019;13(8):8491–8494. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.9b06394. PubMed DOI

Naguib M, Barsoum MW, Gogotsi Y. Ten years of progress in the synthesis and development of MXenes. Adv. Mater. 2021;33(39):2103393. doi: 10.1002/adma.202103393. PubMed DOI

Munshi A, Singh V, Kumar M, Singh J. Effect of nanoparticle size on sessile droplet contact angle. J. Appl. Phys. 2008;103(8):084315. doi: 10.1063/1.2912464. DOI

Nakae H, Fujii H, Sato K. Reactive wetting of ceramics by liquid metals. Mater. Transact. JIM. 1992;33(4):400–406. doi: 10.2320/matertrans1989.33.400. DOI

Machata P, Hofbauerová M, Soyka Y, Stepura A, Truchan D, et al. Wettability of MXene films. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 2022;622:759–768. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.04.135. PubMed DOI

Wang S, Zhang Y, Abidi N, Cabrales L. Wettability and surface free energy of graphene films. Langmuir. 2009;25(18):11078–11081. doi: 10.1021/la901402f. PubMed DOI

Belyaeva LA, Schneider GF. Wettability of graphene. Surf. Sci. Rep. 2020;75(2):100482. doi: 10.1016/j.surfrep.2020.100482. DOI

Taherian F, Marcon V, Vegt NF, Leroy F. What is the contact angle of water on graphene? Langmuir. 2013;29(5):1457–1465. doi: 10.1021/la304645w. PubMed DOI

Geim AK, Novoselov KS. The rise of graphene. Nat. Mater. 2007;6(3):183–191. doi: 10.1038/nmat1849. PubMed DOI

Shin YJ, Wang Y, Huang H, Kalon G, Wee ATS, et al. Surface-energy engineering of graphene. Langmuir. 2010;26(6):3798–3802. doi: 10.1021/la100231u. PubMed DOI

Rafiee J, Mi X, Gullapalli H, Thomas AV, Yavari F, et al. Wetting transparency of graphene. Nat. Mater. 2012;11(3):217–222. doi: 10.1038/nmat3228. PubMed DOI

Shih CJ, Wang QH, Lin S, Park KC, Jin Z, et al. Breakdown in the wetting transparency of graphene. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2012;109(17):176101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.176101. PubMed DOI

Wei N, Lv C, Xu Z. Wetting of graphene oxide: a molecular dynamics study. Langmuir. 2014;30(12):3572–3578. doi: 10.1021/la500513x. PubMed DOI

Manzeli S, Ovchinnikov D, Pasquier D, Yazyev OV, Kis A. 2D transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2017;2(8):17033. doi: 10.1038/natrevmats.2017.33. DOI

Luan B, Zhou R. Wettability and friction of water on a MoS2 nanosheet. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2016;108(13):131601. doi: 10.1063/1.4944840. DOI

Chow PK, Singh E, Viana BC, Gao J, Luo J, et al. Wetting of mono and few-layered WS2 and MoS2 films supported on Si/SiO2 substrates. ACS Nano. 2015;9(3):3023–3031. doi: 10.1021/nn5072073. PubMed DOI

Kozbial A, Gong X, Liu H, Li L. Understanding the intrinsic water wettability of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) Langmuir. 2015;31(30):8429–8435. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b02057. PubMed DOI

Malaki M, Tehrani AF, Niroumand B. Fatgiue behavior of metal matrix nanocomposites. Ceram. Int. 2020;46(15):23326–23336. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.06.246. DOI

Yu L, Lu L, Zhou X, Xu L. Current understanding of the wettability of MXenes. Adv. Mater. Interfaces. 2022;10(2):2201818. doi: 10.1002/admi.202201818. DOI

Malaki M, Maleki A, Varma RS. MXenes and ultrasonication. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2019;7(18):10843–10857. doi: 10.1039/C9TA01850F. DOI

Zukiene K, Monastyreckis G, Kilikevicius S, Procházka M, Micusik M, et al. Wettability of MXene and its interfacial adhesion with epoxy resin. Mater. Chem. Phys. 2021;257:123820. doi: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2020.123820. DOI

Lorencova L, Bertok T, Dosekova E, Holazova A, Paprckova D, et al. Electrochemical performance of Ti3C2Tx MXene in aqueous media: towards ultrasensitive H2O2 sensing. Electrochim. Acta. 2017;235:471–479. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.03.073. PubMed DOI PMC

Yang W, Liu JJ, Wang LL, Wang W, Yuen ACY, et al. Multifunctional MXene/natural rubber composite films with exceptional flexibility and durability. Compos. B Eng. 2020;188:107875. doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.107875. DOI

Liu J, Liu Z, Zhang HB, Chen W, Zhao Z, et al. Ultrastrong and highly conductive MXene-based films for high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2020;6(1):1901094. doi: 10.1002/aelm.201901094. DOI

Liu J, Zhang HB, Sun R, Liu Y, Liu Z, et al. Hydrophobic, flexible, and lightweight MXene foams for high-performance electromagnetic-interference shielding. Adv. Mater. 2017;29(38):1702367. doi: 10.1002/adma.201702367. PubMed DOI

Ding L, Wei Y, Wang Y, Chen H, Caro J, et al. A two-dimensional lamellar membrane: MXene nanosheet stacks. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017;56(7):1825–1829. doi: 10.1002/anie.201609306. PubMed DOI

Ling Z, Ren CE, Zhao MQ, Yang J, Giammarco JM, et al. Flexible and conductive MXene films and nanocomposites with high capacitance. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2014;111(47):16676–16681. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414215111. PubMed DOI PMC

Fan Z, Wang Y, Xie Z, Xu X, Yuan Y, et al. A nanoporous MXene film enables flexible supercapacitors with high energy storage. Nanoscale. 2018;10(20):9642–9652. doi: 10.1039/C8NR01550C. PubMed DOI

Jin X, Shin SJ, Kim N, Kang B, Piao H, et al. Superior role of MXene nanosheet as hybridization matrix over graphene in enhancing interfacial electronic coupling and functionalities of metal oxide. Nano Energy. 2018;53:841–848. doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.09.055. DOI

Zhang T, Pan L, Tang H, Du F, Guo Y, et al. Synthesis of two-dimensional Ti3C2Tx MXene using HCl+LiF etchant: enhanced exfoliation and delamination. J. Alloys Compd. 2017;695:818–826. doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.10.127. DOI

Du F, Tang H, Pan L, Zhang T, Lu H, et al. Environmental friendly scalable production of colloidal 2D titanium carbonitride MXene with minimized nanosheets restacking for excellent cycle life lithium-ion batteries. Electrochim. Acta. 2017;235:690–699. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.03.153. DOI

Zhao MQ, Xie X, Ren CE, Makaryan T, Anasori B, et al. Hollow MXene spheres and 3D macroporous MXene frameworks for Na-ion storage. Adv. Mater. 2017;29(37):1702410. doi: 10.1002/adma.201702410. PubMed DOI

Kang KM, Kim DW, Ren CE, Cho KM, Kim SJ, et al. Selective molecular separation on Ti3C2Tx-graphene oxide membranes during pressure-driven filtration: comparison with graphene oxide and MXenes. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2017;9(51):44687–44694. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b10932. PubMed DOI

Luo J, Fang C, Jin C, Yuan H, Sheng O, et al. Tunable pseudocapacitance storage of MXene by cation pillaring for high performance sodium-ion capacitors. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2018;6(17):7794–7806. doi: 10.1039/C8TA02068J. DOI

Wei S, Xie Y, Xing Y, Wang L, Ye H, et al. Two-dimensional graphene oxide/MXene composite lamellar membranes for efficient solvent permeation and molecular separation. J. Membrane Sci. 2019;582:414–422. doi: 10.1016/j.memsci.2019.03.085. DOI

Bian R, Xiang S, Cai D. Fast treatment of MXene films with isocyanate to give enhanced stability. ChemNanoMat. 2020;6(1):64–67. doi: 10.1002/cnma.201900602. DOI

Liu G, Shen J, Liu Q, Liu G, Xiong J, et al. Ultrathin two-dimensional MXene membrane for pervaporation desalination. J. Membrane Sci. 2018;548:548–558. doi: 10.1016/j.memsci.2017.11.065. DOI

Zhang X, Xu J, Wang H, Zhang J, Yan H, et al. Ultrathin nanosheets of MAX phases with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties in polymeric compositions: Ti3Si0.75Al0.25C2. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013;52(16):4361–4365. doi: 10.1002/anie.201300285. PubMed DOI

Zhang H, Wang L, Chen Q, Li P, Zhou A, et al. Preparation, mechanical and anti–Friction performance of MXene/polymer composites. Mater. Design. 2016;92:682–689. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2015.12.084. DOI

Monastyreckis G, Mishnaevsky L, Hatter C, Aniskevich A, Gogotsi Y, et al. Micromechanical modeling of MXene-polymer composites. Carbon. 2020;162:402–409. doi: 10.1016/j.carbon.2020.02.070. DOI

Zhou H, Wang F, Wang Y, Li C, Shi C, et al. Study on contact angles and surface energy of MXene films. RSC Adv. 2021;11(10):5512–5520. doi: 10.1039/D0RA09125A. PubMed DOI PMC

Kilikevičius S, Kvietkaitė S, Žukienė K, Omastová M, Aniskevich A, et al. Numerical investigation of the mechanical properties of a novel hybrid polymer composite reinforced with graphene and MXene nanosheets. Comput. Mater. Sci. 2020;174:109497. doi: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2019.109497. DOI

Liu L, Ying G, Hu C, Zhang K, Ma F, et al. Functionalization with MXene (Ti3C2) enhances the wettability and shear strength of carbon fiber-epoxy composites. ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2019;2(9):5553–5562. doi: 10.1021/acsanm.9b01127. DOI

Yu J, Chen H, Huang H, Zeng M, Qin J, et al. Protein-induced decoration of applying MXene directly to UHMWPE fibers and fabrics for improved adhesion properties and electronic textiles. Compos. Sci. Technol. 2022;218:109158. doi: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2021.109158. DOI

Guo J, Qiu T, Yu C, Liu Y, Ning C, et al. Three-dimensional structured MXene/SiO2 for improving the interfacial properties of composites by self-assembly strategy. Polym. Compos. 2022;43(1):84–93. doi: 10.1002/pc.26358. DOI

Ding R, Sun Y, Lee J, Nam JD, Suhr J. Enhancing interfacial properties of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites by grafting MXene sheets (Ti2C) Compos. B Eng. 2021;207:108580. doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.108580. DOI

Shen J, Liu G, Ji Y, Liu Q, Cheng L, et al. 2D MXene nanofilms with tunable gas transport channels. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018;28(31):1801511. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201801511. DOI

Wang NN, Wang H, Wang YY, Wei YH, Si JY, et al. Robust, lightweight, hydrophobic, and fire-retarded polyimide/MXene aerogels for effective oil/water separation. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2019;11(43):40512–40523. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b14265. PubMed DOI

Malaki M, Tehrani AF, Niroumand B, Abdullah A. Ultrasonically stir cast SiO2/A356 metal matrix nanocomposites. Metals. 2021;11(12):2004. doi: 10.3390/met11122004. DOI

Chen S, Xiang Y, Peng C, Jiang J, Xu W, et al. Photo-responsive azobenzene-MXene hybrid and its optical modulated electrochemical effects. J. Power Sources. 2019;414:192–200. doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2019.01.009. DOI

Zhou H, Wang Y, Wang F, Deng H, Song Y, et al. Water permeability in MXene membranes: process matters. Chinese Chem. Lett. 2020;31(6):1665–1669. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2019.10.037. DOI