Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water
Abstract Water under 2D confinement exhibits unique structural and dynamic behaviors distinct from bulk water, including phase transitions and altered hydrogen-bonding networks, making it of great scientific interest. While confinement in 2D materials like graphene, mica, or hexagonal boron nitride...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62892-7 |
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| author | Teng Zhang Katherine A. Mazzio Ruocun John Wang Mailis Lounasvuori Ameer Al-Temimy Faidra Amargianou Mohamad-Assaad Mawass Florian Kronast Daniel M. Többens Klaus Lips Tristan Petit Yury Gogotsi |
| author_facet | Teng Zhang Katherine A. Mazzio Ruocun John Wang Mailis Lounasvuori Ameer Al-Temimy Faidra Amargianou Mohamad-Assaad Mawass Florian Kronast Daniel M. Többens Klaus Lips Tristan Petit Yury Gogotsi |
| author_sort | Teng Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Water under 2D confinement exhibits unique structural and dynamic behaviors distinct from bulk water, including phase transitions and altered hydrogen-bonding networks, making it of great scientific interest. While confinement in 2D materials like graphene, mica, or hexagonal boron nitride has been reported, their lack of intrinsic hydrophilicity or metallic conductivity limits their suitability for probing the interplay between confined water and electronic transport. MXenes, a family of 2D transition metal carbides and nitrides, overcome these limitations by combining high metallic conductivity (~104 S cm−1) with hydrophilicity, offering a unique platform to investigate confined water dynamics and their influence on electronic properties. Here, we show that temperature and confinement drive structural transitions of water within MXene interlayers, including the formation of localized ice clusters, amorphous ice, and dynamic hydrogen-bonded networks. These transformations disrupt stacking order, inducing a reversible metal-to-semiconductor transition and conductivity hysteresis in MXene films. Upon heating to 340 K, the dissociation of ice clusters restores interlayer spacing and metallic behavior. Our findings experimentally establish MXenes as an exceptional platform for studying the phase change of confined water, offering new insights into how nanoscale water dynamics modulate electronic properties and enabling the design of advanced devices with tunable interlayer interactions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-44a9c45c862b4e9ebadeec2c982997fd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-44a9c45c862b4e9ebadeec2c982997fd2025-08-20T03:43:10ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-08-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-62892-7Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined waterTeng Zhang0Katherine A. Mazzio1Ruocun John Wang2Mailis Lounasvuori3Ameer Al-Temimy4Faidra Amargianou5Mohamad-Assaad Mawass6Florian Kronast7Daniel M. Többens8Klaus Lips9Tristan Petit10Yury Gogotsi11A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel UniversityDepartment of Chemistry, Humboldt University of BerlinA.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel UniversityHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHA.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel UniversityAbstract Water under 2D confinement exhibits unique structural and dynamic behaviors distinct from bulk water, including phase transitions and altered hydrogen-bonding networks, making it of great scientific interest. While confinement in 2D materials like graphene, mica, or hexagonal boron nitride has been reported, their lack of intrinsic hydrophilicity or metallic conductivity limits their suitability for probing the interplay between confined water and electronic transport. MXenes, a family of 2D transition metal carbides and nitrides, overcome these limitations by combining high metallic conductivity (~104 S cm−1) with hydrophilicity, offering a unique platform to investigate confined water dynamics and their influence on electronic properties. Here, we show that temperature and confinement drive structural transitions of water within MXene interlayers, including the formation of localized ice clusters, amorphous ice, and dynamic hydrogen-bonded networks. These transformations disrupt stacking order, inducing a reversible metal-to-semiconductor transition and conductivity hysteresis in MXene films. Upon heating to 340 K, the dissociation of ice clusters restores interlayer spacing and metallic behavior. Our findings experimentally establish MXenes as an exceptional platform for studying the phase change of confined water, offering new insights into how nanoscale water dynamics modulate electronic properties and enabling the design of advanced devices with tunable interlayer interactions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62892-7 |
| spellingShingle | Teng Zhang Katherine A. Mazzio Ruocun John Wang Mailis Lounasvuori Ameer Al-Temimy Faidra Amargianou Mohamad-Assaad Mawass Florian Kronast Daniel M. Többens Klaus Lips Tristan Petit Yury Gogotsi Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water Nature Communications |
| title | Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water |
| title_full | Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water |
| title_fullStr | Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water |
| title_short | Conductivity hysteresis in MXene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water |
| title_sort | conductivity hysteresis in mxene driven by structural dynamics of nanoconfined water |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62892-7 |
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