Tunable electrochromic behavior of titanium-based MXenes

Abstract

Two-dimensional transition metal carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides, popular by the name MXenes, are a promising class of materials as they exhibit intriguing optical, optoelectronic and electrochemical properties. Taking advantage of their metallic conductivity and hydrophilicity, titanium carbide MXenes (Ti₃C₂T_x and others) are used to fabricate solution processable transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) for the design of three-electrode electrochromic cells. However, the tunable electrochromic behavior of various titanium-based MXene compositions across the entire visible spectrum has not yet been demonstrated. Here, we investigate the intrinsic electrochromic properties of titanium-based MXenes, Ti₃C₂T_x, Ti₃CNT_x, Ti₂CT_x, and Ti_1.6Nb_0.4CT_x, where individual MXenes serve as a transparent conducting, electrochromic, and plasmonic material layer. Plasmonic extinction bands for Ti₃C₂T_x, Ti₂CT_x and Ti_1.6Nb_0.4CT_x are centered at 800, 550 and 480 nm, which are electrochemically tunable to 630, 470 and 410 nm, respectively, whereas Ti₃CNT_x shows a reversible change in transmittance in the wide visible range. Additionally, the switching rates of MXene electrodes with no additional transparent conductor electrodes are estimated and correlated with the respective electrical figure of merit values. This study demonstrates that MXene-based electrochromic cells are tunable in the entire visible spectrum and suggests the potential of the MXene family of materials in optoelectronic, plasmonic, and photonic applications, such as tunable visible optical filters and modulators, to name a few.