Cysteine-engineered MXene interlayers enable highly efficient electro- and photothermal de-icing

Cysteine intercalation regulates MXene interlayers via adsorption and H-bonding. • Dual-mode Joule and photothermal heating enables efficient de-icing. • De-icing time and energy consumption reduced by about 50% with rapid response. • Uniform heating and scalability demonstrated on large-area simulated airfoils. MXene thin films exhibit high electrical conductivity and strong photothermal response, making them attractive for advanced de-icing applications. However, the intersheet aggregation of pristine MXene, governed primarily by weak hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions, undermines structural stability and limits performance in harsh icing environments. Here, we propose a molecular engineering strategy using cysteine (Cys), a small organic molecule with amino, carboxyl, and thiol functional groups, to regulate the interlayer structure of MXene films. The abundant electron-donating groups in Cys strongly anchor onto Ti sites on MXene, creating inserted molecular layers with hydrogen-bonding network with the interlayer spacing tuned from 13.33 Å to 13.93 Å. Under a driving voltage of 2.4 V, the 10 mM Cys-doped MXene@Cys film achieved a steady-state temperature of 136.9 °C with an electrothermal efficiency of 220.0 °C·cm 2 /W. Compared with the pristine MXene film, the 10 mM Cys-doped film exhibited a de-icing time of only 4.7 s (a reduction of 56.3%) and energy consumption of 5.14 J/cm 2 (56.1% reduction). Furthermore, under 1 sun irradiation, the temperature of the 20 mM Cys-doped film was enhanced by 92.4% relative to the pristine MXene film. This work demonstrates an organic-molecule-doping approach for interlayer engineering in MXene films and offers a promising materials platform for high-performance active anti−/de-icing technologies. Download: Download high-res image (370KB) Download: Download full-size image