Revealing the Hidden Third Dimension of Point Defects in Two-Dimensional MXenes

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Guinan, Grace, Smeaton, Michelle A., Wyatt, Brian C., Goldy, Steven, Egan, Hilary, Glaws, Andrew, Tucker, Garritt J., Anasori, Babak, Spurgeon, Steven R.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Guinan, Grace
Smeaton, Michelle A.
Wyatt, Brian C.
Goldy, Steven
Egan, Hilary
Glaws, Andrew
Tucker, Garritt J.
Anasori, Babak
Spurgeon, Steven R.
author_facet Guinan, Grace
Smeaton, Michelle A.
Wyatt, Brian C.
Goldy, Steven
Egan, Hilary
Glaws, Andrew
Tucker, Garritt J.
Anasori, Babak
Spurgeon, Steven R.
contents Point defects govern many important functional properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials. However, resolving the three-dimensional (3D) arrangement of these defects in multi-layer 2D materials remains a fundamental challenge, hindering rational defect engineering. Here, we overcome this limitation using an artificial intelligence-guided electron microscopy workflow to map the 3D topology and clustering of atomic vacancies in Ti$_3$C$_2$T$_X$ MXene. Our approach reconstructs the 3D coordinates of vacancies across hundreds of thousands of lattice sites, generating robust statistical insight into their distribution that can be correlated with specific synthesis pathways. This large-scale data enables us to classify a hierarchy of defect structures--from isolated vacancies to nanopores--revealing their preferred formation and interaction mechanisms, as corroborated by molecular dynamics simulations. This work provides a generalizable framework for understanding and ultimately controlling point defects across large volumes, paving the way for the rational design of defect-engineered functional 2D materials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_08350
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Revealing the Hidden Third Dimension of Point Defects in Two-Dimensional MXenes
Guinan, Grace
Smeaton, Michelle A.
Wyatt, Brian C.
Goldy, Steven
Egan, Hilary
Glaws, Andrew
Tucker, Garritt J.
Anasori, Babak
Spurgeon, Steven R.
Materials Science
Machine Learning
Point defects govern many important functional properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials. However, resolving the three-dimensional (3D) arrangement of these defects in multi-layer 2D materials remains a fundamental challenge, hindering rational defect engineering. Here, we overcome this limitation using an artificial intelligence-guided electron microscopy workflow to map the 3D topology and clustering of atomic vacancies in Ti$_3$C$_2$T$_X$ MXene. Our approach reconstructs the 3D coordinates of vacancies across hundreds of thousands of lattice sites, generating robust statistical insight into their distribution that can be correlated with specific synthesis pathways. This large-scale data enables us to classify a hierarchy of defect structures--from isolated vacancies to nanopores--revealing their preferred formation and interaction mechanisms, as corroborated by molecular dynamics simulations. This work provides a generalizable framework for understanding and ultimately controlling point defects across large volumes, paving the way for the rational design of defect-engineered functional 2D materials.
title Revealing the Hidden Third Dimension of Point Defects in Two-Dimensional MXenes
topic Materials Science
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.08350