Maximizing the safety and sustainability of MXenes

Steffen Foss Hansen; Maria Bille Nielsen; Lars Michael Skjolding; Jasreen Kaur; Nindya Desivyana; Frida Hermansson; James Bird; Suelen Barg; Alexander Khort; Inger Odnevall; Bengt Fadeel; Rickard Arvidsson

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-82063-w

Maximizing the safety and sustainability of MXenes

Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 28;14(1):31030. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82063-w.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, 2800, Denmark. sfha@dtu.dk.
² Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, 2800, Denmark.
³ Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden.
⁴ Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, 412 96, Sweden.
⁵ IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Aschebergsgatan 44, Gothenburg, 411 33, Sweden.
⁶ Henry Royce Institute, Department of Materials, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
⁷ Institute of Materials Resource Management (MRM), University of Augsburg, 86159, Augsburg, Germany.
⁸ Biotechnology and Health, Department of Chemistry, Division of Surface and Corrosion Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Stockholm, 100 44, Sweden.

Abstract

Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) is a new regulatory concept guiding chemical and material innovation. The European Commission has recommended a two-stage SSbD framework and plan to revise it based on stakeholder feedback. The framework involves establishing key (re)design SSbD principles and assessment of the final innovation, however the applicability of the framework to advanced materials remains to be addressed. Here, we applied the SSbD framework on Ti₃C₂T_x MXenes, an emerging advanced material, by (1) reviewing health, environmental and safety information; (2) characterizing MXenes transformation/dissolution in different media; (3) conducting (eco)toxicological experiments, and (4) completing a prospective life-cycle assessment. Our analysis suggests that Ti₃C₂T_x is safe and sustainable when applying the SSbD framework. Further research is needed regarding long-term hazardous effects of Ti₃C₂T_x and the sustainable production of the titanium precursor. Guidance is also needed on how much weight one should assign to the different lines of evidence in the overall SSbD assessment.

Keywords: Advanced materials; Life cycle assessment; MXenes; Safe and sustainable by design.

Abstract

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