The first paper from our collaboration with Dr Christina Birkel’s group at Arizona State University has just been published in Dalton Transactions.

The work focuses on experimental and theoretical investigation of the chemical exfoliation of Cr-based MAX phase particles. This publication seems particularly important as it reports on a negative result. By combining advanced experimental and theoretical approaches we could explain why it is not possible to exfoliate Cr-based MXene from Cr₂GaC by HF-etching. Our contribution to the story was to use SXPS and HAXPES at beamline I09 at Diamond Light Source to understand the chemical states present after HF treatment.

The cherry on the cake so to say that this work also made it to the front cover of Dalton Transactions.