Abstract

     Two dimensional nanomaterials, such as graphene and MXene, have been widely used to fabricate high performance nanocomposite films owing to their unique structure and excellent physiochemical properties, showing enormous potential applications in many areas. However, the existing voids and wrinkling in the nanocomposite films inevitably impedes realizing the high performance of the nanocomposite films during the assembly process of graphene and MXene nanosheets. Nacre provides an inspiration for fabricating high performance graphene and MXene nanocomposite films through constructing a high alignment structure and strong interface interactions. In this review, we summarize the preparation approaches of graphene and MXene nanocomposite films and discuss the mechanical properties. Then, several effective strategies for assembling graphene and MXene nanosheets have been concluded and discussed. Meanwhile, we also summarize and discuss the applications of graphene and MXene nanocomposite films including electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and thermal management. Finally, outlooks and challenges are proposed to promote their progress and applications in the future.

Introduction

     Since the first discovery of graphene in 2004, graphene has gradually aroused widespread attention [1]. Due to the outstanding mechanical, electrical and thermal properties, graphene has been applied in flexible electronic devices, aerospace and thermal management fields in the past decade [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. For instance, the single-layer graphene has a Young’s modulus of 1.0 TPa [7] and a superhigh thermal conductivity of about 5300 W/mK [8] at room temperature, demonstrating enormous practical potentiality in the above mentioned fields. Before realizing these applications, it is crucial to assemble graphene nanosheets into high performance graphene nanocomposites including one dimensional (1D) fiber, two dimensional (2D) film and three dimensional (3D) bulk. Especially, high performance graphene nanocomposite films have gained enormous attention. However, it is difficult to achieve high performance nanocomposite films due to weak interaction between adjacent graphene nanosheets. Graphene oxide (GO) is a usual precursor for obtaining graphene with plentiful surface terminating groups, which can easily interact with various materials for preparing nanocomposite films [9,10]. Meanwhile, in recent years, MXene, a novel two dimensional (2D) materials, shows promising electrical and thermal properties, which shows promising application in aerospace field [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16]. Indeed, compared with graphene, the intrinsic mechanical and thermal conductivity properties and stabilities of MXene is relatively poor. Furthermore, the easily oxidizable characteristics and thermal vulnerability of MXene may restrict its practical applications. However, compared with graphene, MXene has plentiful surface functional groups, which is an ideal building block for fabricating nanocomposite films without chemical modification any more.

Summary and outlook

     In the past several years, two dimensional materials such as graphene and MXene have been widely studied owing to the excellent physiochemical properties. In this review, we have focused on the preparation methods, assembling strategies and mechanical properties of graphene and MXene nanocomposite films. Moreover, we have also discussed the applications of obtained graphene and MXene nanocomposite films such as EMI shielding and thermal conductivity. Various methods such as VAF, blade coating, drop casting and LbL have been used to prepare high performance graphene and MXene nanocomposite films. However, as aforementioned, the existing voids and wrinkling are harmful for the mechanical properties of graphene and MXene nanocomposite films. Hence, several strategies for fabricating high performance graphene and MXene nanocomposite films are proposed.