Light & Matter Seminar – Yury Gogotsi – Synthesis, Optical Properties and Applications of a Large Family of Metallic 2D Nanosheets – MXenes

Venue: QUA LG103, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
Those external to King’s should register by filling in this form.

Synthesis, Optical Properties and Applications of a Large Family of Metallic 2D Nanosheets – MXenes –
Yury Gogotsi
A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Abstract: MXenes, a large family of 2D transition-metal carbides and nitrides, have shown exceptional tunability and have been extensively explored for applications across many fields. A very broad range of absorption spectra, composition-dependent low or high IR emissivity, efficient light-to-heat conversion, plasmonic resonances, and nonlinearity determine the applications of MXene, ranging from photodetectors and optical modulators to electron transport layers and saturable absorbers. Among various MXenes, titanium-based carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides have emerged as promising optical materials due to their high density of states and metallic conductivity, which support plasmon or ENZ modes in the near-infrared (NIR) range. In addition, their optical properties can be tuned at the atomic level through design by controlling chemical configuration and interlayer spacing. This talk will describe the structure and composition of MXenes, their key properties, and demonstrate that Ti-based MXenes support plasmon modes in a high-frequency range, including NIR. In addition, I’ll discuss tunable optical properties by tailoring the carbon-to-nitride stoichiometric ratio in MXenes. This approach can provide the platform for tunable photonics with extreme light confinement in the high-frequency range.

Yury Gogotsi is a Distinguished University Professor and Bach Endowed Chair in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University (Philadelphia, USA). He is the founding Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. He is credited with principal contributions to the development of materials for electrochemical capacitors, the discovery of a large family of 2D carbides and nitrides known as MXenes, and the tuning of the porosity of carbide-derived carbons with sub-nanometer accuracy. He published the first microscopic observation of water inside carbon nanotubes, discovered polygonal nanotubes (graphite polyhedral crystals), and invented the field of high-pressure surface science. The impact of his work is demonstrated by over 360,000 citations.

Image credit: Cropped version of SEM of MXene. (2023, March 24). Wikimedia Commons.