MXenes: from past to future perspectives

MXenes have recently emerged as a revolutionary class of material displaying exceptional tailored-made properties. The onward journey and remarkable rise are establishing MXene-based materials as multifaceted playgrounds for the technology-oriented explorations and are offering a tool-box for the ad hoc tailoring of advanced materials capable to effectively address current and future societal challenges. Unexpected applications have witnessed a tremendous growth owing to the material’s unique chemical and physical properties including, among others, optical, electrical, mechanical and thermal characteristics. Attaining an in-depth and critical understanding on the broadest arsenal of such unique and new properties as well as the synergistic effects of the assorted characteristics will play a pivotal role for new discoveries in both, research and industrial sectors. Herein, the current challenges, bottlenecks, controversies, as well as emerging opportunities are critically discussed by providing, in a single package, comprehensive insight into chemical and physical properties with a particular focus on their disruptive potential for technological applications. The key fundamental properties ranging from electrical, magnetic, thermal, mechanical, tribological to sensing features are elucidated to stimulate emerging opportunities and lucrative potentials with the ultimate goal being the technological exploitation of newfound materials and structures with targeted attributes.