Intercalation of non-van der Waals (vdW) layered materials can produce new 2D and 3D materials with unique properties, but it is difficult to achieve. Here, we describe a structural editing protocol for 3D non-vdW layered ternary carbides and nitrides (MAX phases) and their 2D vdW derivatives (MXenes). Gap-opening and species-intercalating stages were mediated by chemical scissors and guest intercalants, creating a large family of layered materials with unconventional elements and structures in MAX phases, as well as MXenes with versatile termination species. Removal of surface terminations by metal scissors and stitching of carbide layers by metal atoms leads to a reverse transformation from MXenes to MAX phases, and metal-intercalated 2D carbides. This scissor-mediated structural editing may enable structural and chemical tailoring of other layered ceramics.
@article{arxiv.2207.14429,
title = {Chemical-scissor-mediated structural editing of layered transition metal carbides},
author = {Haoming Ding and Youbing Li and Mian Li and Ke Chen and Kun Liang and Guoxin Chen and Jun Lu and Justinas Palisaitis and Per O. A. Persson and Per Eklund and Lars Hultman and Shiyu Du and Zhifang Chai and Yury Gogotsi and Qing Huang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.14429},
year = {2023}
}