High-efficiency ultraviolet shielding and high transparency of Ti3C2T MXene/poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposite films

MXene as novel two-dimensional (2D) materials possess typical layered structures and tunable band gap, showing great potentials in high-performance electromagnetic shielding and light absorption. In this work, we prepared ultrathin Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets and fabricated MXene/poly(vinyl alcohol) composite films with high-efficiency ultraviolet (UV) shielding and high transparency. We characterized the microstructures, UV–vis absorption spectra, and UV-shielding performance of the nanocomposite films in detail. We found that the MXene/PVA composite films exhibited satisfactory UV shielding and high transparency. The 1.0 wt% Ti3C2Tx MXene/PVA films could shield nearly 90% UV light, and their visible-light transmittance still remained over 55%. Such high performance is mainly attributed to the tunable band gap, ultrathin thickness, layered structures, and high alignment of the Ti3C2Tx MXene in PVA films.