Figure 2.

Morphology and microstructural characterization of the synthesized TTO hybrid structure. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of the functionalized a) Ta₄C₃T _x MXene and b) TTO nanostructure samples after heat treatment at 220 °C for 2 h. Field‐emission SEM observations of TTO hybrid structure reveal effective delamination of layers, anchored by a tantalum oxide particle array. The thermal treatment further improved the oxidization of Ta₄C₃T _x MXene layers. TEM images of the oxidized c) Ta₄C₃T _x MXene (inset) and d) TTO (inset) composites. The images show successful organization of TTO hybrid structures. The thermal treatment led to further improvement and well‐defined distribution of Ta‐oxide nanoparticles. High‐resolution TEM images confirmed the presence of two different lattices with d‐spacing of 0.261 and 0.338 nm, which is attributed to Ta₄C₃T _x MXene layers and tantalum oxide composites. e) XPS narrow scan spectra of Ta 4f, O 1s, Al 2p corresponding to Ta₄AlC₃ MAX phase and oxidized TTO samples after thermal treatment at 220 °C for 2 h, confirming proper extraction of Al from the MAX phase structure with effective exfoliation of MXene nanosheets. The XPS fittings further demonstrate that exfoliated Ta₄C₃T _x MXene sheets were successfully composited with Ta₂O₅‐TaO₂ particles.