Recent Advances and Perspectives of Lewis Acidic Etching Route:An Emerging Preparation Strategy for MXenes

Since the discovery in 2011,MXenes have become the rising star in the field of two-dimensional materials.Benefiting from the metallic-level conductivity,large and adjustable gallery spacing,low ion diffusion barrier,rich surface chemistry,superior mechanical strength,MXenes exhibit great application prospects in energy storage and conversion,sensors,optoelectronics,electromagnetic interference shielding and biomedicine.Nevertheless,two issues seriously deteriorate the further development of MXenes.One is the high experimental risk of common preparation methods such as HF etching,and the other is the difficulty in obtaining MXenes with controllable surface groups.Recently,Lewis acidic etching,as a brand-new preparation strategy for MXenes,has attracted intensive attention due to its high safety and the ability to endow MXenes with uniform terminations.However,a comprehensive review of Lewis acidic etching method has not been reported yet.Herein,we first introduce the Lewis acidic etching from the following four aspects:etching mechanism,terminations regulation,in-situ formed metals and delamination of multi-layered MXenes.Further,the applications of MXenes and MXene-based hybrids obtained by Lewis acidic etching route in energy storage and conversion,sensors and microwave absorption are carefully summarized.Finally,some challenges and opportunities of Lewis acidic etching strategy are also presented.

Etching characteristics and surface modification of InGaSnO thin films under Cl_(2)/Ar plasma

Indium gallium tin oxide(IGTO)thin films have the potential for high mobility and lowtemperature processing,which makes them suitable for applications such as display backplanes and high-voltage switching devices.However,very few studies have investigated the plasmaetching characteristics of IGTO and changes in its properties after etching.In this study,the etching characteristics of IGTO were investigated using Cl_(2)/Ar plasma,and changes in surface properties were analyzed.Results showed that the etch rate increased with an increase in the proportion of Cl_(2),with the highest etch rate observed at 69 nm min^(-1)in pure Cl_(2)plasma with a gas flow rate of 100 sccm.Furthermore,increased radio-frequency power caused a rise in the etch rate,while a process pressure of 15 m Torr was optimal.The primary etching mechanism for IGTO thin films under Cl_(2)plasma was a chemical reaction,and an increased work function indicated the occurrence of defects on the surface.In addition,the etching process reduced the surface roughness of Cl_(2)-containing plasma,whereas the etching process in pure Ar plasma increased surface roughness.This study contributes to a better understanding of the plasmaetching characteristics of IGTO and changes in its properties after etching,providing valuable insights for IGTO-based applications.

Patterning two-dimensional semiconductors with thermal etching

The controllable synthesis of complicated nanostructures in advanced two-dimensional(2D)semiconductors,such as periodic regular hole arrays,is essential and remains immature.Here,we report a green,facile,highly controlled synthetic method to efficiently pattern 2D semiconductors,such as periodic regular hexagonal-shaped hole arrays(HHA),in 2D-TMDs.Combining the production of artificial defect arrays through laser irradiation with anisotropic annealing etching,we created HHA with different arrangements,controlled hole sizes,and densities in bilayer WS_(2).Atomic force microscopy(AFM),Raman,photoluminescence(PL),and scanning transmission electron microscopy(STEM)characterization show that the 2D semiconductors have high quality with atomical clean and sharp edges as well as undamaged crystals in the unetched region.Furthermore,other nanostructures,such as nanoribbons and periodic regular triangular-shaped 2D-TMD arrays,can be fabricated.This kind of 2D semiconductors fabrication strategy is general and can be extended to a series of 2D materials.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations show that one WS_(2)molecule from the edges of the laser-irradiated holed region exhibits a robust etching activation,making selective etching at the artificial defects and the fabrication of regular 2D semiconductors possible.

Visually monitoring the etching process of gold nanoparticles by KI/12 at single-nanoparticle level using scattered-light dark-field microscopic imaging

Real-time monitoring of reaction processes is helpful for understanding the reaction mechanisms. In this study we investigated the etching mechanism of gold nanopartides （AuNPs） by iodine on a single-nanopartide level because AuNPs have become important nanoprobes with applications in sensing and bioimaging fields owing to their specific localized surface plasmon resonance （LSPR） properties. By using a scattered-light dark-field microscopic imaging （iDFM） technique, the in situ KI/I2-treated etching processes of various shapes of AuNPs, including nanospheres （AuNSs）, nanorods （AuNRs）, and nanotrigonal prisms （AuNTs）, were monitored in real time. It was found that the scattered light of the different shapes of AuNPs exhibited noticeable color changes upon exposure to the etching solution. The scattering spectra during the etching process showed obvious blue-shifts with decreasing scattered intensity owing to the oxidation of Au atoms into [AuI2]-. Both finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） simulations and monitoring of morphological variations proved that the etching was a thermodynamic-dependent process through a chamfering mechanism coupled with layer-by-layer peeling, resulting in isotropic spheres with decreased particle sizes.