Enhancing the magnetism of 2D carbide MXene Ti3C2Tx by H2 annealing

The seeking of the intrinsically ferromagnetic materials has been extended to the two-dimensional transition metal carbide MXene in recent years. However, as the first synthesized member in this family, the experimental study of the magnetism on Ti3C2Tx is rare. Herein, monolayer MXene Ti3C2Tx was prepared by LiF/HCl etching method and annealed in H-2. The magnetic properties of the as-prepared and annealed Ti3C2Tx were investigated. The results show that the as-prepared Ti3C2Tx exhibits the very weak paramagnetism. After H-2 annealing, the significant enhancement in the saturation magnetization is observed, and the ferromagnetism appears after annealing at 500 degrees C. Density functional theory simulations show that Ti-C vacancy pairs created during the exfoliation and H-2 annealing are the major magnetic sources. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.