Investigation of interfacial interaction of graphene oxide and Ti3C2Tx (MXene) via atomic force microscopy

Understanding the interfacial mechanics of 2D heterointerfaces is a key factor to the design of various scaled devices based on 2D heterogeneous materials such as graphene oxide (GO) and MXenes. In this study, the adhesive interfacial interaction of GO-GO, Ti3C2Tx-GO, and Ti3C2Tx-Ti3C2Tx 2D materials were systematically studied with atomic force microscopy (AFM) by using GO- and Ti3C2Tx-wrapped tips and respective conjugating substrates. The adhesion energy of Ti3C2Tx-GO, Ti3C2Tx-Ti3C2Tx, and GO-GO interfaces are measured to be 412 ± 12, 404 ± 12, and 272 ± 1 mJ/m2, respectively. The interfacial adhesive property determined by AFM measurement is further verified by density functional theory (DFT) simulations. It is found that the charge density distribution at the interface arisen from the oxygen species of graphene is responsible to the enhancement of the adhesion energy of Ti3C2Tx-GO heterointerface.