Elucidating the Chemical Order and Disorder in High-Entropy MXenes: A High-Throughput Survey of the Atomic Configurations in TiVNbMoC3 and TiVCrMoC3

Abstract

Expanding the MXene design space from ordered and random double-transition-metal (DTM) MXenes to include high-entropy (HE) MXenes with four or more principal elements enables a powerful approach for enhancing MXene properties. While many DTM MXenes possess unique structures that strongly influence material properties, HE MXenes are largely unknown because they are only recently synthesized. Since certain combinations of transition metals (TMs), e.g., Mo-Ti and Cr-Ti, lead to ordered DTM MXene phases, where Mo/Cr atoms occupy the outer TM layers and Ti atoms occupy the inner layers, it is critical to investigate any possibilities of TM segregation in the atomic layers of HE MXenes. Therefore, we present a high-throughput first-principles study of the atomic configurations of two recently synthesized HE M4C3 MXenes: TiVNbMoC3 and TiVCrMoC3. Combining density functional theory, cluster expansion, and Monte Carlo simulations, we predict a unique preferential occupancy of the TM atoms in the four layers within the single-phase HE MXenes, even at temperatures as high as 2900 K. Across a wide compositional range, the outer (inner) layers are predominantly occupied by two of the four TM elements, with Cr most preferentially occupying the outer layers, followed by Mo, V, Nb, and Ti. The strong compositional dependence of the interlayer segregation highlights the HE MXenes’ tunability. Within each TM layer, the atoms largely form a solid solution, with a tendency for Nb-V separation at lower temperatures. Our results elucidate the chemical order and disorder in HE MXenes, guiding experiments in designing MXenes with enhanced properties within the huge compositional space.