Additive-Free Aqueous MXene Inks for Thermal Inkjet Printing on Textiles

Direct printing of functional inks onto flexible substrates allows for scalable fabrication of wearable electronics. However, existing ink formulations for inkjet printing require toxic solvents and additives, which make device fabrication more complex, limit substrate compatibility, and hinder device performance. Even water-based carbon or metal nanoparticle inks require supplemental surfactants, binders, and cosolvents to produce jettable colloidal suspensions. Here, a general approach is demonstrated for formulating conductive inkjet printable, additive-free aqueous Ti3C2Tx MXene inks for direct printing on various substrates. The rheological properties of the MXene inks are tuned by controlling the Ti3C2Tx flake size and concentration. Ti3C2Tx-based electrical conduits and microsupercapacitors (MSCs) are printed on textile and paper substrates by optimizing the nozzle geometry for high-resolution inkjet printing. The chemical stability and electrical properties of the printed devices are also studied after storing the devices for six months under ambient conditions. Current collector-free, textile-based MSCs show areal capacitance values up to 294 mF cm(-2) (2 mV s(-1)) in poly(vinyl alcohol)/sulfuric acid gel electrolyte, surpassing reported printed MXene-based MSCs and inkjet-printed MSCs using other 2D nanomaterials. This work is an important step toward increasing the functional capacity of conductive inks and simplifying the fabrication of wearable textile-based electronics.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates a general approach for formulating conductive inkjet printable, additive-free aqueous Ti3C2Tx MXene inks for direct printing on various substrates. The printed electrical conduits and microsupercapacitors show promising performance on textile and paper substrates, surpassing reported alternatives. The research contributes towards enhancing the functional capacity of conductive inks and simplifying the fabrication of wearable textile-based electronics.