3D Flexible, Conductive, and Recyclable Ti3C2Tx MXene-Melamine Foam for High-Areal-Capacity and Long-Lifetime Alkali-Metal Anode

Haodong Shi; Meng Yue; Chuanfang John Zhang; Yanfeng Dong; Pengfei Lu; Shuanghao Zheng; Huijuan Huang; Jie Chen; Pengchao Wen; Zhaochao Xu; Qiong Zheng; Xianfeng Li; Yan Yu; Zhong-Shuai Wu

doi:10.1021/acsnano.0c03042

3D Flexible, Conductive, and Recyclable Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-Melamine Foam for High-Areal-Capacity and Long-Lifetime Alkali-Metal Anode

ACS Nano. 2020 Jul 28;14(7):8678-8688. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03042. Epub 2020 Jun 19.

Authors

Haodong Shi^{1

2}, Meng Yue^{2

3}, Chuanfang John Zhang⁴, Yanfeng Dong⁵, Pengfei Lu¹, Shuanghao Zheng¹, Huijuan Huang⁶, Jie Chen^{2

7}, Pengchao Wen¹, Zhaochao Xu⁷, Qiong Zheng³, Xianfeng Li³, Yan Yu⁶, Zhong-Shuai Wu¹

Affiliations

¹ 2D Materials & Energy Devices Lab, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 A Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Division of Energy Storage, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, China.
⁴ Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), ETH domain, Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, 3-11 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110819, China.
⁶ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China.

PMID: 32530269
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03042

Abstract

Alkali metals are ideal anodes for high-energy-density rechargeable batteries, while seriously hampered by limited cycle life and low areal capacities. To this end, rationally designed frameworks for dendrite-free and volume-changeless alkali-metal deposition at both high current densities and capacities are urgently required. Herein, a general 3D conductive Ti₃C₂T_X MXene-melamine foam (MXene-MF) is demonstrated as an elastic scaffold for dendrite-free, high-areal-capacity alkali anodes (Li, Na, K). Owing to the lithiophilic nature of F-terminated MXene, conductive macroporous network, and excellent mechanical toughness, the constructed MXene-MF synchronously achieves a high current density of 50 mA cm^-2 for Li plating, high areal capacity (50 mAh cm^-2) with high Coulombic efficiency (99%), and long lifetime (3800 h), surpassing the Li anodes reported recently. Meanwhile, MXene-MF shows flat voltage profiles for 720 h at 10 mA cm^-2 for the Na anode and 800 h at 5 mA cm^-2 for the K anode, indicative of the wide applicability. Notably, the high current density of 20 mA cm^-2 for 20 mAh cm^-2 for the Na anode, accompanying good recyclability was rarely achieved before. When coupled with sulfur or Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ cathodes, the assembled MXene-MF alkali (Li, Na)-based full batteries showcase enhanced rate capability and cycling stability, demonstrating the potential of MXene-MF for advanced alkali-metal batteries.

Keywords: 3D framework; MXene; alkali-metal anode; dendrite-free; high areal capacity.