Search

EP-4708570-A9 - ANTENNAS COMPRISING MX-ENE FILMS AND COMPOSITES

EP4708570A9EP 4708570 A9EP4708570 A9EP 4708570A9EP-4708570-A9

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to antennas for transmitting and/or receiving electrical signals comprising a MXene composition, devices comprising these antennas, and methods of transmitting and receiving signals using these antennas.

Inventors

  • GOGOTSI, YURY
  • ANASORI, Babak

Assignees

  • Drexel University

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20170823

Claims (14)

  1. An antenna for transmitting and/or receiving electrical signals comprising a MXene composition, wherein the MXene composition comprises: (a) at least one layer having first and second surfaces, each layer described by a formula M n+1 X n T x and comprising: substantially two-dimensional array of crystal cells, each crystal cell having an empirical formula of M n+1 X n , such that each X is positioned within an octahedral array of M, wherein M is at least one Group IIIB, IVB, VB, or VIB metal, wherein each X is C, N, or a combination thereof; n = 1, 2, or 3; and wherein T x represents surface termination groups; or (b) at least one layer having first and second surfaces, each layer comprising: a substantially two-dimensional array of crystal cells, each crystal cell having an empirical formula of M' 2 M" n X n+1 T x , such that each X is positioned within an octahedral array of M' and M", and where M" n are present as individual two-dimensional array of atoms intercalated between a pair of two-dimensional arrays of M' atoms, wherein M' and M" are different Group IIIB, IVB, VB, or VIB metals, wherein each X is C, N, or a combination thereof; n = 1 or 2; and wherein T x represents surface termination groups.
  2. The antenna of claim 1, wherein at least one of said surfaces of each layer has surface termination groups (T x ) comprising alkoxide, carboxylate, halide, hydroxide, hydride, oxide, sub-oxide, nitride, sub-nitride, sulfide, thiol, or a combination thereof
  3. The antenna of claim 1 or 2, wherein each M, M', and M" is independently at least one Group IVB, Group VB, or Group VIB metal, preferably wherein M, M', and M" is independently Cr, Ti, Mo, Nb, V, or Ta, or a combination thereof.
  4. The antenna of claim 1 or 2, wherein the MXene composition is described by the formula M n+1 X n , preferably wherein M n+1 X n is Ti 2 C, Mo 2 TiC 2 , Ti 3 C 2 , or a combination thereof.
  5. The antenna of claim 1 or 2, wherein the MXene composition is described by the formula M' 2 M" n X n+1 T x , wherein: (a) n is 1, M' is Mo, and M" is Nb, Ta, Ti, or V, or a combination thereof; or (b) n is 2, M' is Mo, Ti, V, or a combination thereof, and M" is Cr, Nb, Ta, Ti, or V, or a combination thereof; or (c) M' 2 M" n X n+1 comprises Mo 2 TiC 2 , Mo 2 VC 2 , Mo 2 TaC 2 , Mo 2 NbC 2 , Mo 2 Ti 2 C 3 , Cr 2 TiC 2 , Cr 2 VC 2 , Cr 2 TaC 2 , Cr 2 NbC 2 , Ti 2 NbC 2 , Ti 2 TaC 2 , V 2 TaC 2 , Mo 2 Ti 2 C 3 , Ma 2 V 2 C 3 , Mo 2 Nb 2 C 3 , Mo 2 Ta 2 C 3 , Cr 2 Ti 2 C 3 , Cr 2 V 2 C 3 , Cr 2 Nb 2 C 3 , Cr 2 Ta 2 C 3 , Nb 2 Ta 2 C 3 , Ti 2 Nb 2 C 3 , Ti 2 Ta 2 C 3 , V 2 Ta 2 C 3 , V 2 Nb 2 C 3 , or V 2 Ti 2 C 3 , or a nitride or carbonitride analog thereof.
  6. The antenna of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: (a) the electrical signals are in a radio frequency range, preferably in a frequency range of from about 3 kHz to about 300 GHz or from about 1 GHz to about 10 GHz; or (b) the antenna is transmitting or receiving electrical signals in a range of from about 3 kHz to about 300 GHz.
  7. The antenna of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the antenna is operably coupled to a radio transmitter or a radio receiver by at least one transmission line and optionally further coupled to an amplifier.
  8. The antenna of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the antenna is independently a monopole antenna or a dipole antenna.
  9. The antenna of claim 1, wherein the MXene composition is present as a coating on a conductive or non-conductive substrate, and wherein: (a) the substrate is rigid or the substrate is flexible; and/or (b) the MXene coating is areal or the MXene coating is patterned on the substrate; and/or (e) the MXene coating comprises a glass or organic polymeric binder, preferably wherein the binder is: (i) an organic binder; (ii) has a dielectric permittivity of less than 5; (iii) is a fluorinated or perfluorinated polymer, silicate glass, or alginate polymer; or (iv) is two or more of (i), (ii), or (iii); or the MXene coating is binder-free; and/or (g) the MXene coating is present as a thickness in range of from 25 nm to 1000 microns; and/or (h) the MXene is present in the coating as an overlapping array of two or more overlapping layers of MXene platelets oriented to be essentially coplanar with the substrate surface, preferably wherein the MXene platelets have at least one mean lateral dimension in a range of from about 0.1 micron to about 50 microns.
  10. The antenna of claim 1, wherein the antenna is a molded or formed body comprising the MXene composition.
  11. The antenna of claim 1, wherein the MXene composition is covered by an organic polymer or glass coating.
  12. A one way and/or two way radio, a television, a communication receiver, a radar set, a cell phone, garage door opener, wireless microphone, Bluetooth-enabled device, wireless enabled device, wireless charger for batteries and supercapacitors, wireless computer network, baby monitor, or RFID tag comprising the antenna of any one of claims 1 to 11.
  13. A method of transmitting electromagnetic information comprising applying an electric current oscillating at a radio frequency to the antenna of any one of claims 1 to 11, such that the antenna radiates a radio wave.
  14. A method comprising receiving radio wave information by the antenna of any one of claims 1 to 11, and converting the information to a useable audio signal, video signal, or digital data using a radio receiver.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Patent No. 62/379,399, filed August 25, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to antenna configurations comprising MXene films and composites. BACKGROUND MXenes are a family of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides discovered at Drexel University in 2011. Over the past few years, a growing family of about 20 different 2D MXenes have been synthesized and explored. MXenes, which were derived from the corresponding layered ternary and quaternary carbides and nitrides, e.g., MAX phase materials with a formula of Mn-1AXn, where M is an early transition metal, A is a III or IV A-group element and X is carbon and/or nitrogen. The exfoliation process was carried out by selectively etching the A layers to provide compositions with 2D layers of Mn+1Xn terminated with OH/F groups. These new phases were named as MXene to emphasize their graphene-like morphology. MXenes have important application in many areas, such as hydrogen storage, lead adsorption, energy storage, and polymer composites. The theoretical specific capacity of Ti3C2 anode has been predicted to be 320 mAh g-1. MXenes are often metallic conductive, with large surface area due to their 2D flakes nature, but their antenna applications has never been studied, nor was there any suggestion that their properties would be particularly useful in this application. Subsequently, MXenes of the general formula M'2M"nXn+1 were also discovered. Antenna is a critical part in all radio frequency (RF) communication devices. Nowadays all the antennas are made mostly of metals (aluminum, copper, or silver). However, the performance of metal antennas is limited by a thickness which is called skin depth. It means that at radio frequencies the electric current only flows on the surface of a metal and the thickness of skin depth is depended on frequency. For example, skin depth for copper at the WiFi or Bluetooth frequency (2.4 GHz) is 1 micron. As wearable devices are becoming more popular, the need for thinner and flexible antennas increases. However, manufacturing less than few microns copper and aluminum antennas is very expensive and complicated. The other solution is to make metal inks and print antenna, as there are already antennas and RFID tags made of printed copper or silver inks. The integration of antennas into textiles became possible with silver threads. However, having metal particles well dispersed in different solvents is another technological limitation. Recently the technology went beyond metals: the discovery of graphene opened new avenues for 2D materials in Radio frequency communications. Printed graphene antennas for RFID are now commercially available and reported values of attenuation are comparable with copper ones. However, conductivity of graphene is lower compared with MXene, which makes MXene a good candidate for wearable antennas. MXenes have another important advantage over many other materials for printable devices. Because of MXenes synthesis method, as-synthesized MXenes can be dispersed in different solvents including water. In other words, making MXene water based inks does not need any further processing. SUMMARY The present disclosure is directed to antennas for transmitting and/or receiving electrical signals, including electrical signals in a radio frequency range, the antennas comprising a MXene composition. Certain separate embodiments include those where the antennas are transmitting or receiving electrical signals and those where the antennas are not. The antennas may be operably coupled to a radio transmitter or a radio receiver by at least one transmission line. In certain embodiments, the antennas are monopole antennas: in other embodiments, the antennas are dipole antennas. The MXene composition may comprise any composition described in previous disclosures, applications, and patents disclosing such structures. The antennas may comprise molded or formed bodies of the MXene materials, or may comprise substrates having MXene coatings. While not limited to any particular substrate, non-conductive substrates are preferred, including those comprising organic polymer, inorganic (e.g., glass or silicon), or fabric (including synthetic and natural fiber) substrates. Since MXene can be produced as a free-standing film, the antenna substrates can be almost any substrate material, with little dependence on morphology and roughness. The coatings or substrate bodies may comprises a binder, or be binder-free. Additional embodiments include articles comprising the inventive antennas, for use in either transmitting or receiving mode. Still further embodiments include methods of transmitting or receiving signals using these inventive antennas, whether by themselves or in context of the articles comprising the antennas. BRIEF DESCRIPTION