Atomic Layer Tailoring Titanium Carbide MXene To Tune Transport and Polarization for Utilization of Electromagnetic Energy beyond Solar and Chemical Energy

The utilization of electromagnetic (EM) energy neither is affected by the weather nor produces harmful substances. How to utilize and convert EM energy is of practical concern. Herein, delaminated titanium carbide (D-Ti₃C₂T_x) MXene nanosheet (NS) was successfully fabricated by the modified Gogotsi's method. The choice of atomic layer processing allows tailoring of layer distance of Ti₃C₂T_x so as to improve polarization. High-performance EM wave absorption of D-Ti₃C₂T_x MXene NS composites was obtained, and their comprehensive performance is the best of all Ti₃C₂T_x-based composites. Due to the competition between conduction loss and polarization loss, the higher the concentration of D-Ti₃C₂T_x in composites, the more the conversion of EM energy to thermal energy will be. Based on the mechanism, a prototype of thermoelectric generator is designed, which can convert the EM energy into power energy effectively. This thermoelectric generator will be the energy source for low power electric devices. Our finding will provide new ideas for the utilization of EM energy.