Laser induced exothermic chemical reaction in fluoride doped Ti3C2Tx MXene membrane as an ultrafast ignition materials

MXene can generate high-temperature pulses (HTP) by the physical/chemical coupling effect under laser irradiance and is a good initiator for laser ignition. The main obstacle in the application on laser ignition of MXene based materials is the incomplete oxidation and reduced energy output resulting from the inert TiO 2 passivation layer. In this study, we proposed an efficient approach to significantly enhance the thermal oxidation and energy release under laser irradiance by decorating hydrophobic 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PFTE). The CFx produced by the decomposition of PFTE under laser irradiance can react with Ti atoms on the surface of MXene to prevent the formation of the oxide layer. This process releases a large amount of heat and completely oxidizes MXene. As expected, some rutile nano-crystals are distributed on the surface of fully oxidized MXene and the energy output of MXene/PFTE composite is 6.1–8.3 kJ/g which is much higher than pristine MXene. The mechanism of the thermal oxidation process is proposed to explain the enhanced energy output of the MXene/PFTE by thermal analysis and time-resolved emission spectrum (TR OES). Furthermore, the MXene/PFTE membrane significantly enhanced the laser ignitibility of 2,4,6,8,10,12-(hexanitrohexaaza)cyclododecane (CL-20) reducing the laser intensity and shortens the ignition time.