Ultrathin Titanium Carbide (MXene) Films for High-Temperature Thermal Camouflage

Thermal camouflage has attracted increasing attention owing to the rapid development of infrared (IR) surveillance technologies. Various materials and systems have been developed to date, but the realization of high-temperature thermal camouflage using ultrathin film/coating remains a great challenge; this is of great significance, especially for IR stealth in military equipment. This work demonstrates a series of ultrathin Ti₃C₂T_x MXene films (as low as 1 µm) with superior high-temperature indoor/outdoor thermal camouflage performance: wide camouflage temperature range (from below −10 °C to over 500 °C), large reduction in radiation temperature (exceeding 300 °C for objects with temperatures over 500 °C), long-term high-temperature or fire stability, multifunctionality including disguised Joule heating capability, and high electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency. The superior high-temperature thermal camouflage performance of the ultrathin MXene film is attributed to its low mid-IR emissivity (0.19), which is comparable to that of stainless steel but far below that of other 2D nanomaterials, such as graphene. The multifunctional ultrathin MXene films prepared through simple vacuum-assisted filtration provide a feasible method for efficient high-temperature thermal camouflage using ultrathin films, demonstrating the great promise of MXene materials for thermal camouflage, IR stealth, counter-surveillance, and security protection.