Solar irradiation enables scalable and programmable MXene and GO films

2D material films, such as MXene and graphene, featuring with robust mechanical properties and outstanding physicochemical properties, have attracted significant attention in varying fields. However, the current fabrication methodologies of 2D material films suffer from poor controllability, inefficient processing, elaborate equipment, or limited film scale and uniformity. A route which is free of fabrication equipment and energy supply while enables high-quality and programmable films is urgently needed yet unavailable to date. Herein, solar irradiation (SI) is proposed as an emerging route to develop large-area MXene or graphene oxide (GO) films with programmable structures, by means of their intrinsic light-to-heat conversion capability. The findings include: (i) under SI, photothermal-induced Marangoni effect leads to oriented flow fields, making nanosheets highly aligned and thereafter compact films. Mechanical strength and electrical conductivity of the films are enhanced by 259% and 75%, respectively, compared to ones fabricated via widespread vacuum-assisted filtration; (ii) impressively, MXene/GO lateral and vertical heterostructures with programmable 2D patterns and 3D shapes have been developed via this SI route, offering a versatile and flexible design strategy; and (iii) this emerging SI route makes 40-inch films at ambient temperature and pressure, without any external energy supply or devices. Download: Download high-res image (382KB) Download: Download full-size image