Synthesis of titanium carbide (TiC) using recycled precursor for potential scale-up of low-cost MXene

In this study, we report the low-cost synthesis of titanium carbide (TiC) from recycled precursors and further used to synthesize MAX phase material, Ti₃AlC₂. The recycled precursor, carbon extracted from the used tyres using a few processes is used to synthesize TiC with high purity. The use of tyre-derived carbon offers several environmental benefits such as facile synthesis, low cost, environment-friendly, etc. The as-synthesized TiC is further used as a precursor to synthesize low-cost Ti₃AlC₂. The structure of TiC and Ti₃AlC₂ are characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The microstructure and surface morphology of the samples are examined using scanning electron microscope imaging and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The chemical bonding information is analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the thermal behaviour of the samples are examined using thermogravimetric analysis. The successful cost-effective synthesis of TiC and Ti₃AlC₂ are confirmed from XRD analysis and the samples show high purity. TiC and Ti₃AlC₂ show excellent thermal stability which helps in their potential applications in the future. This study proclaims a new strategy to synthesize low-cost Ti₃AlC₂ MXene for the large-scale production using TiC precursor where the TiC precursor is synthesized using carbon precursor.