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Etching Exfoliated Ti2CTx Nanosheets for Photoelectrochemical Photodetectors with Enhanced Performance and Alkaline Stability

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Abstract

Because of their unusual electrical and optoelectronic properties, MXene nanosheets have generated considerable interest. Herein, a photoelectrochemical (PEC)-type photodetector based on few-layer MXene (Ti2CTx) nanosheets was fabricated, in which the Ti2CTx was prepared by liquid-phase exfoliation-assisted chemical etching from Ti2AlC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and Raman spectra were used to confirm the microstructure and morphology of the two-dimensional (2D) Ti2CTx. Photoresponse experiments using a PEC measurement system revealed that the synthesized Ti2CTx nanosheets outperform the original Ti2AlC in photoresponse activity under simulated solar illumination. The high photoresponse performance of the Ti2CTx-based photodetector is attributed to the improved photoelectric performance of Ti2CTx by the liquid-phase exfoliation method. The structure and properties of the few-layer Ti2CTx nanosheets suggest potential applications in photonics and optoelectronics.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (No. 21B0128), Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Hunan (No. 2022JJ30553), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12274359), Hunan Key Laboratory of Two-Dimensional Materials (No. 2018TP1010), Suzhou key industrial technology innovation project (SYG201921), and Program of Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT-17R91).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hunan Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Energy Materials and Devices and Micro-Nano Energy Technology and School of Physics and Optoelectronic, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Ruiyang Yu, Hui Qiao, Yang Zhou, Gengcheng Liao, Zongyu Huang & Xiang Qi

  2. Hunan Key Laboratory of Two-Dimensional Materials, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, People’s Republic of China

    Zongyu Huang

  3. Suzhou Institute of Wuhan University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Ziyu Wang

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  1. Ruiyang Yu
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Yu, R., Qiao, H., Zhou, Y. et al. Etching Exfoliated Ti2CTx Nanosheets for Photoelectrochemical Photodetectors with Enhanced Performance and Alkaline Stability. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 3029–3037 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-023-10275-3

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