Arbitrarily cuttable and ultrathin MXene structural colors for customizable and wearable multispectral information management

Structural colors based on natural and artificial microstructures show promising light manipulation. As atomically thick building blocks, Ti 3 C 2 T x sheets have been successfully assembled into the ultrathin, flexible, arbitrarily cuttable, large-size structural colors by the simple and low-cost spray methods based on the lossy thin-film interference. By ordered stacking atomically thick Ti 3 C 2 T x layer by layer at well-organized low–surface tension semidry assemble state, rich colors from yellow to gray with the thickness from ∼22 to ∼154 nanometers of uniform Ti 3 C 2 T x colors are obtained, having the thinnest framework among solution-processed flexible structural colors with similar optical performance. Low-infrared emissivity from room to 300°C temperature and region-selective patterns make highly information-fused and complex visible-infrared (VIS-IR) Ti 3 C 2 T x colors camouflage. Without conventional dielectric layer between Ti 3 C 2 T x and substrate, automated spraying system can produce meter-scale films that can be cut and sewn into VIS-IR concealment “camouflage cloaks” easily, promising ultrathin multifunctional information systems and beyond.