Unraveling the multiscale damping properties of two-dimensional layered MXene

MXene has emerged as an exciting two-dimensional nanomaterial because of its interesting multifunctional properties. In this paper, the authors report the multiscale damping behaviors of pure MAX and MXene. Dynamic loading of a multilayer MXene assembly shows an appreciable loss tangent (tan δ), indicating the energy-dissipation ability of the material. The tan δ value of MXene is recorded to be as high as 0·37, which is about a 200% improvement over that of pure MAX. It is hypothesized that there are multiscale energy-loss mechanisms active in the material. While intralayer bond contraction operates in individual MXene sheets, interlayer compression and sliding/shearing mechanisms are active between the stacked layers. The presence of functional groups, van der Waals interactions and a low coefficient of friction between the MXene sheets provide MXene with an extraordinary energy-dissipation ability. Damping behavior is highly stable in MXene for as high as 50 000 cycles, making it extremely promising for advanced applications requiring superior impact resistance, stability against noise and ability to damp mechanical vibrations.