Fabrication of Ti3C2 MXene Microelectrode Arrays for In Vivo Neural Recording

This synthesis protocol produces high-quality MXene ink with a metallic conductivity that reaches above 10, 000 Siemens per centimeter. The main advantage of this technique is that it enables the precise micro-patterning of MXene films without damaging the film or leaving harmful residues on the electrodes. To prepare a titanium carbide ink, slowly add two grams of titanium aluminum carbide precursor to a 125 milliliter reaction container containing selective etching solution and stir the solution with a Teflon magnetic bar for 24 hours at 35 degrees Celsius at 400 rotations per minute.

At the end of the incubation, add 50 milliliters of deionized water to two 175 milliliter centrifuge tubes, split the etching reaction mixture equally between the tubes, and fill to the 150 milliliter mark. Wash the material by repeated centrifugation, decanting the acidic supernatant into a plastic hazardous waste container and adding fresh water to the tubes between centrifugation steps until the pH of the supernatant solution reaches above pH six. For intercalation of the molecules between multilayer MXene particle to weaken out of plane interactions, add two grams of lithium chloride to 100 milliliters of deionized water and stir the solution at 200 rotations per minute.