The functional groups and site interactions on the surfaces of two-dimensional (2D) layered titanium carbide can be tailored to attain some extraordinary physical properties. Herein a 2D alk-MXene (Ti3C2(OH/ONa)(x)F(2-x)) material, prepared by chemical exfoliation followed by alkalization intercalation, exhibits preferential Pb(II) sorption behavior when competing cations (Ca(II)/Mg(II)) coexisted at high levels. Kinetic tests show that the sorption equilibrium is achieved in as short a time as 120 s. Attractively, the alk-MXene presents efficient Pb(II) uptake performance with the applied sorption capacities of 4500 kg water per alk-MXene, and the effluent Pb(II) contents are below the drinking water standard recommended by the World Health Organization (10 μg/L). Experimental and computational studies suggest that the sorption behavior is related to the hydroxyl groups in activated Ti sites, where Pb(II) ion exchange is facilitated by the formation of a hexagonal potential trap.

A new MXene/Ag composite was synthesized by direct reduction of a AgNO3 aqueous solution in the presence of MXene (Ti3C2(OH)0.8F1.2). The as-received MXene/Ag composite can be deemed as an excellent anode material for lithium-ion batteries, exhibiting an extraordinary long cycle lifetime with a large capacity at high charge-discharge rates. The results show that Ag self-reduction in MXene solution is related to the existence of low-valence Ti. Reversible capacities of 310 mAh·g(-1) at 1 C (theoretical value being ∼320 mAh·g(-1)), 260 mAh·g(-1) at 10 C, and 150 mAh·g(-1) at 50 C were achieved. Remarkably, the composite withstands more than 5000 cycles without capacity decay at 1-50 C. The main reasons for the long cycle life with high capacity are relevant to the reduced interface resistance and the occurrence of Ti(II) to Ti(III) during the cycle process.

Rationally tailored intercalation for two-dimensional (2D) layered MXene materials has aroused extraordinary enthusiasm for broadening their applications. Herein, a novel sandwiched structural 2D MXene-iron oxide (MXI) material, prepared by selectively exfoliating an Al layer followed by magnetic ferric oxide intercalation, exhibits remarkable applicability to trace phosphate sequestration in the environmental remediation realm. Compared with commercial adsorbents, the resultant MXI nanocomposite exhibits a fast separation in 120 s together with the superior treatment capacities of 2100 kg and 2400 kg per kg in simulated and real phosphate wastewater applications, respectively. Such efficient sequestration is ascribed to the formation of a unique nano-ferric oxide morphology. The ultrafine nano-Fe2O3 particles can intercalate into the interior layers of MXene, widening the layer distance, and stimulating the available overlapping activated layers; while the efficient phosphate removal can be achieved by the strong complexation onto the embedded magnetic nano-Fe3O4 with a unique sandwich-structure as well as the stimulated Ti-O terminal within MXene. Apart from the fact that this approach suggests a complementary means for environmental remediation, it opens a new trajectory to achieve the functionalization of MXene.

Graphene oxide (GO) sheets exhibit superior adsorption capacity for removing organic dye pollutants from an aqueous environment. In this paper, the facile preparation of GO/polyethylenimine (PEI) hydrogels as efficient dye adsorbents has been reported. The GO/PEI hydrogels were achieved through both hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions between amine-rich PEI and GO sheets. For both methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB), the as-prepared hydrogels exhibit removal rates within about 4 h in accordance with the pseudo-second-order model. The dye adsorption capacity of the hydrogel is mainly attributed to the GO sheets, whereas the PEI was incorporated to facilitate the gelation process of GO sheets. More importantly, the dye-adsorbed hydrogels can be conveniently separated from an aqueous environment, suggesting potential large-scale applications of the GO-based hydrogels for organic dye removal and wastewater treatment.

Differing from graphene, the activated groups on the surface of layered two-dimensional titanium carbide (MXene) materials bestow superiority to self-assemble some novel MXene derivatives with intriguing chemical/physical properties. Here we first report a series of new MXene-Ag composites by directly mixing AgNO3 and alkalization-intercalated MXene (alk-MXene, Ti3C2(OH/ONa)2) solution containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) at room temperature, in which an analogous urchin-shaped MXene-Ag0.9Ti0.1 bimetallic nanowire composite exhibits unexpected electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. The addition of PVP solution induces the formation of 5-fold nanotwin Ag seeds, which then grow into Ag/Ti (Ag0.9Ti0.1) bimetallic nanowires. The unique bimetallic nanowires favor a four-electron transfer process, and exhibit high current density and good stability by offering numerous oxygen adsorption sites and shortening the diffusion path of adsorbed oxygen. The results represent a new step for the electrocatalytic applications of MXene materials, and also motivate enthusiasm in the quest for new MXene derivations.