Electrically reading a light-driven molecular switch on 2D-Ti3C2Tx MXene via molecular engineering: towards responsive MXetronics

Abstract

The contemporary digital revolution, which demands for miniaturized electronics, has prompted the search for molecule-based nanomaterials that handle some of the computational logic functions-which relates the concept of zeros (0) and ones (1) in binary code-reached by mainstream silicon-based semiconductor technology. Herein, the feasibility of emerging 2D transition metal carbide (MXene) derivatives to write, erase and readout bistable molecular switches has been elucidated. As a first demonstration of applicability, 2D-Ti3C2Tx MXene has been covalently functionalized with an optically active molecule as azobenzene (AZO), in which the photo-driven inputs of the AZO isomerization (E-AZO@Ti3C2Tx <-> Z-AZO@Ti3C2Tx) resulted in two distinguished electrical states when it was immobilized in an emerging 3D-printed transducer. Thus, this work provides the basis towards the yet undisclosed concept of "Responsive MXetronics" by molecularly engineering smart MXenes to perform logic (opto)electronic tasks.

The contemporary digital revolution, which demands for miniaturized electronics, has prompted the search for molecule-based nanomaterials that handle some of the computational logic functions-which relates the concept of zeros (0) and ones (1) in binary code-reached by mainstream silicon-based semiconductor technology. Herein, the feasibility of emerging 2D transition metal carbide (MXene) derivatives to write, erase and readout bistable molecular switches has been elucidated. As a first demonstration of applicability, 2D-Ti3C2Tx MXene has been covalently functionalized with an optically active molecule as azobenzene (AZO), in which the photo-driven inputs of the AZO isomerization (E-AZO@Ti3C2Tx <-> Z-AZO@Ti3C2Tx) resulted in two distinguished electrical states when it was immobilized in an emerging 3D-printed transducer. Thus, this work provides the basis towards the yet undisclosed concept of "Responsive MXetronics" by molecularly engineering smart MXenes to perform logic (opto)electronic tasks.