Perspective of MXetronics

Atomic-thin transition metal carbonitrides (MXenes), as an emerging class of two-dimensional (2D) materials, become a highly active research topic.Since the discovery of graphene nearly 20 years ago, many 2D materials (graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and black phosphorus) have been extensively studied in the field of micro-nano electronics.However, research on MXenes-based micro-nano electronics has just begun.MXenes exhibit rich elemental compositions and unique physicochemical properties, such as hydrophilicity, tunable work function, adjustable functional groups, fast ion and electron transport, superconductivity, surface plasmons, photo-thermo-electricity, electromagnetic absorption, and some MXenes also possess high conductivity.These characteristics make MXenes hold great potential for device applications at the microscale or even nanoscale.In recent years, the Alshareef research group has been dedicated to bringing MXenes into the field of micro-nano electronics and has defined the emerging academic field of MXene electronics, known as MXetronics, in 2019.This perspective article briefly summarizes and evaluates representative research progress in this field, including the challenges in synthesis, processing, property investigation, and device applications at the microelectronic level.Furthermore, we will propose several key research directions and unexplored subfields in this area.