In-situ growth of bamboo-shaped carbon nanotubes and helical carbon nanofibers on Ti3C2Tx MXene at ultra-low temperature for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption properties

The potential of two-dimensional layered MXenes in electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption needs further development. Herein, we carried out the in situ growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the surface of Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene at ultra-low temperature via chemical vapor deposition . The obtained CNTs exhibited a bamboo-like structure and were accompanied by helical carbon nanofibers . The ultra-low temperature solved the problem that the high temperature required in the traditional CNT growth process would destroy the structural integrity of MXene. The lush CNT forest cross-linked the MXene layers, transforming the two-dimensional layered structure into a three-dimensional conductive network, providing abundant conductive channels for carriers, optimizing the impedance matching of the CNT/MXene hybrid, and resulting in a significant dielectric loss. The as-prepared CNT/MXene hybrid exhibited a minimal reflection loss of −52.56 dB (99.9994% EMW absorption) in the X-band. This work proposes a new idea to enhance the EMW absorption properties of Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene and fabricate high-performance MXene-based EMW absorbers.