Autonomous Atomic-Scale Self-healing in Two-Dimensional MXenes via Diffusion-Driven Lattice Reconstruction

Autonomous Atomic-Scale Self-healing in Two-Dimensional MXenes via Diffusion-Driven Lattice Reconstruction | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Autonomous Atomic-Scale Self-healing in Two-Dimensional MXenes via Diffusion-Driven Lattice Reconstruction Chenglin Wu, Jiaoli Li, Matthew Boebinger, Kun Luo, Yanxiao Li, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9086701/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We report the first in situ scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) observations of intrinsic self-healing in MXenes occurring without external stimuli, driven by surface atomic diffusion. Nanopores were introduced into titanium carbide (Ti-C) and medium-entropy (ME) MXenes using focused electron-beam irradiation and visualized by high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) imaging. Upon beam cessation, the nanopores spontaneously closed at room temperature, demonstrating autonomous lattice repair. In situ heating experiments at 250 °C and 500 °C reveal a pronounced acceleration of the healing kinetics with increasing temperature. Molecular dynamics simulations employing machine-learning–trained interatomic potentials show that healing is initiated by the diffusion of high-energy surface atoms, which progressively lowers the total system energy. Compared with Ti-C MXenes, ME MXenes exhibit substantially slower healing kinetics, reflecting compositional constraints on atomic mobility. A critical nanopore size is further identified beyond which complete healing becomes kinetically inhibited. Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Two-dimensional materials Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Two-dimensional materials MXene in-situ STEM observations self-healing temperature-dependent diffusion Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.docx Supplementary Information: Autonomous Atomic-Scale Self-healing in Two-Dimensional MXenes via Diffusion-Driven Lattice Reconstruction Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9086701","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":608102491,"identity":"68859c69-8636-4f26-81d0-6b8868c5abc0","order_by":0,"name":"Chenglin 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