Co-existence of magnetic phases in two-dimensional MXene

This study reports first synthesis of MXene-derived co-existing magnetic phases. New family of two-dimensional (2D) materials such as Ti₃C₂ namely MXene, having transition metal forming hexagonal structure with carbon atoms have attracted tremendous interest now a days. We have reported structural, optical and magnetic properties of un-doped and La-doped Ti₃C₂T_x MXene, synthesized using co-precipitation method. The lattice parameter (LP) calculated for La-MXene are a = 5.36 Å, c = 18.3 Å which are slightly different from the parent un-doped MXene (a = 5.35 Å, c = 19.2 Å), calculated from X-ray diffraction data. The doping of La⁺³ ions shrinks Ti₃C₂T_x layers perpendicular to the planes. The band gap for MXene is calculated to be 1.06 eV which is increased to 1.44 eV after doping of La⁺³ ion that shows its good semiconducting nature. The experimental results and density functional theory (DFT) calculations for magnetic properties of both the samples have been presented and discussed, indicating the co-existence of ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic phases. The results presented here are novel and is first report on co-existence of magnetic properties of 2D carbides for potential applications in two-dimensional spintronics.