Rational Design of TiCT MXene Inks for Conductive, Transparent Films.

Transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) with a high figure of merit (FOM, defined as the ratio of transmittance to sheet resistance) are crucial for transparent electronic devices, such as touch screens, micro-supercapacitors, and transparent antennas. Two-dimensional (2D) titanium carbide (TiCT), known as MXene, possesses metallic conductivity and a hydrophilic surface, suggesting dispersion stability of MXenes in aqueous media allowing the fabrication of MXene-based TCEs by solution processing. However, achieving high FOM MXene TCEs has been hindered mainly due to the low intrinsic conductivity caused by percolation problems. Here, we have managed to resolve these problems by (1) using large-sized TiCT flakes (∼12.2 μm) to reduce interflake resistance and (2) constructing compact microstructures by blade coating. Consequently, excellent optoelectronic properties have been achieved in the blade-coated TiCT films, .., a DC conductivity of 19 325 S cm at transmittances of 83.4% (≈6.7 nm) was obtained. We also demonstrate the applications of TiCT TCEs in transparent Joule heaters and the field of supercapacitors, showing an outstanding Joule heating effect and high rate response, respectively, suggesting enormous potential applications in flexible, transparent electronic devices.