A new process that lets scientists chemically cut apart and stitch together nanoscopic layers of two-dimensional materials—like a tailor altering a suit—could be just the tool for designing the technology of a sustainable energy future. Researchers from Drexel University, China and Sweden, have developed a method for structurally splitting, editing and reconstituting layered materials, called MAX phases and MXenes, with the potential of producing new materials with very unusual compositions and exceptional properties.