{
  "abstract": "Controlled reactions between MAX phases and molten salts allow selective A-element substitution or full A-element removal, providing a versatile route to both new MAX phases and two-dimensional (2D) MXenes. Despite its success, the broader applicability of this strategy remains limited, and the predictive power of theoretical approaches has not been systematically established. We recently introduced a thermodynamic methodology based on process-specific phase diagrams to describe reactions of MAX phases in molten salts, demonstrated for a narrowly defined set of representative systems. Here, we generalize this framework by adopting a more inclusive description of competing reaction outcomes and assess its applicability across a broad chemical space comprising 14 MAX phases and 7 molten salts. The predictions are benchmarked against reported experimental data and complemented by new experiments on previously unexplored MAX–salt combinations, encompassing both MXene synthesis and reaction outcomes beyond A-element substitution and MXene formation. While idealized stoichiometric models capture many trends, we identify experimentally relevant cases where non-ideal features – particularly non-stoichiometric A-element substitution and reduced termination occupancy – are required for quantitative agreement. More broadly, analysis of thermodynamic trends across all MAX–salt combinations yields clear criteria under which MXene formation is highly likely. The resulting framework provides a validated basis for computational screening and is expected to guide molten-salt-driven exfoliation strategies toward new two-dimensional materials beyond the MXene family.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Materials Design Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden",
    "Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), IFM, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden",
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedicine, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China",
    "Layered Materials Editing Center, Yongjiang Laboratory, Ningbo 315202, China"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jonas Björk",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1345-0006"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Haoming Ding",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-1838-9374"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Qing Huang",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7083-9416"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Johanna Rosén",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5173-6726"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8bj3v7j9hg87v.bib",
  "cited_by": 5,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.mattod.2026.103457",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "8bj3v7j9hg87v",
  "issns": [
    "1369-7021",
    "1873-4103"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2026.103457",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2505|MXene and MAX Phase Materials"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7171512703",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702126003032/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-07-28",
  "publisher": "Elsevier BV",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8bj3v7j9hg87v.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T13:21:20Z",
      "native_id": "W7171512703",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2026.103457"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2505|MXene and MAX Phase Materials",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Thermodynamic principles governing MXene formation by molten salt etching",
  "title_text": "Thermodynamic principles governing MXene formation by molten salt etching",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T13:20:45Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8bj3v7j9hg87v",
  "venue": "Materials Today",
  "versions": []
}