posted on 2021-02-15, 15:34authored byHanna Pazniak, Mohamed Benchakar, Thomas Bilyk, Andrea Liedl, Yan Busby, Céline Noël, Patrick Chartier, Simon Hurand, Marc Marteau, Laurent Houssiau, Rosanna Larciprete, Paolo Lacovig, Daniel Lizzit, Ezequiel Tosi, Silvano Lizzit, Jérôme Pacaud, Stéphane Célérier, Vincent Mauchamp, Marie-Laure David
MXenes
are a young family of two-dimensional transition metal carbides,
nitrides, and carbonitrides with highly controllable structure, composition,
and surface chemistry to adjust for target applications. Here, we
demonstrate the modifications of two-dimensional MXenes by low-energy
ion implantation, leading to the incorporation of Mn ions in Ti3C2Tx (where Tx is a surface termination) thin films. Damage and
structural defects caused by the implantation process are characterized
at different depths by XPS on Ti 2p core-level spectra, by ToF-SIMS,
and with electron energy loss spectroscopy analyses. Results show
that the ion-induced alteration of the damage tolerant Ti3C2Tx layer is due to defect
formation at both Ti and C sites, thereby promoting the functionalization
of these sites with oxygen groups. This work contributes to the inspiring
approach of tailoring 2D MXene structure and properties through doping
and defect formation by low-energy ion implantation to expand their
practical applications.