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High-conductivity amphiphilic MXene can be dispersed in a wide range of solvents

KIST develops world's first 'high-conductivity amphiphilic MXene' that can be dispersed in a wide range of solvents
Overview of the technology to synthesize amphiphilic MXene by reacting MXene with alkoxides (either ethoxide or phenoxide). Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)

Dr. Seon Joon Kim and his team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)'s Convergence Research Center for SEIF have developed a high-conductivity amphiphilic MXene material that can be dispersed in water, polar and nonpolar organic solvents.

Their paper is in the journal Advanced Materials.

This is an achievement that fundamentally overcomes the solvent compatibility limitation that has hindered the practical use of high-conductivity MXene, and is noted as a general-purpose technology that can be widely applied to high-tech industries in the future.

MXene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial with , excellent solvent dispersibility, and excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance, is expected to find applications in a variety of fields, including secondary batteries, advanced sensors, stealth paints, and EMI shielding films.

However, so far, MXene has been mostly hydrophilic, which means that it disperses well in water but is difficult to apply in various organic solvents. This has limited their compatibility with practical processes such as and ink processes.

The researchers developed the world's first surface modification technology that introduces alkoxide organic monomers to the surface of MXene, making it both hydrophilic and hydrophobic, giving it amphiphilic properties. This technique enabled MXene to be stably dispersed in a wide range of solvents, from water (with a high solvent polarity index) to toluene (with a low solvent polarity index).

In addition, the developed amphiphilic MXene exhibited better coating properties and EMI shielding performance than conventional MXene. Inks formulated from amphiphilic MXene are uniformly coated on copper and aluminum substrates, which are widely used as collectors for secondary batteries, and also on commercial polymer substrates such as polyimide and PET, as well as on Teflon substrates, which have the highest hydrophobicity.

It also maintained excellent EMI shielding performance in the 28 GHz region, a key frequency band used in next-generation communications, and exhibited shielding performance of more than 50 dB (blocking more than 99.999% of ) even in a very thin film with a thickness of 0.01 mm.

  • KIST develops world's first 'high-conductivity amphiphilic MXene' that can be dispersed in a wide range of solvents
    (Left) Conventional MXene material disperses only in water or ethanol with a high solvent polarity index. (Right) Amphiphilic MXene material exhibits good solvent dispersion from water (with high solvent polarity index) to toluene (with low solvent polarity index). Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)
  • KIST develops world's first 'high-conductivity amphiphilic MXene' that can be dispersed in a wide range of solvents
    (Left) Conventional MXene materials result in uneven and incomplete coating on various metal or polymeric substrates. (Right) Uniform and complete coating on a variety of metal or polymer substrates for amphiphilic MXene materials. Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)

The newly developed MXene is a general-purpose technology that can be applied to EMI shielding materials for future mobility, such as autonomous vehicles, manufacturing electrode materials for secondary batteries based on a solution process, and radio wave absorption composites for stealth unmanned aerial vehicles, and is expected to have a significant scalability and industrial impact.

"This achievement is a technological milestone that proves that MXene materials can be directly applied to industrial field processes beyond lab scale," said Dr. Seon Joon Kim at KIST.

"We are currently working with domestic and foreign MXene companies to expand towards mass production-based technologies and accelerate the transition to the commercialization stage."

More information: Seongeun Lee et al, Covalent Surface Modification of Hydrophobic Alkoxides on Ti3C2Tx MXene Nanosheets Toward Amphiphilic and Electrically Conductive Inks, Advanced Materials (2025).

Journal information: Advanced Materials

Citation: High-conductivity amphiphilic MXene can be dispersed in a wide range of solvents (2025, August 18) retrieved 23 August 2025 from /news/2025-08-high-amphiphilic-mxene-dispersed-wide.html
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