MXene-Copper/Cobalt Hybrids via Lewis Acidic Molten Salts Etching for High Performance Symmetric Supercapacitors

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Nov 22;60(48):25318-25322. doi: 10.1002/anie.202112381. Epub 2021 Oct 21.

Abstract

MXenes have attracted great interests as supercapacitors due to their metallic conductivity, high density, and hydrophilic nature. Herein we report Ti3 C2 -Cu/Co hybrids via molten salt etching in which the existence of metal atoms and their interactions with MXene via surficial O atoms were elucidated by XAFS for the first time. The electrochemical investigation of Ti3 C2 -Cu electrode demonstrated the pseudocapacitive contribution of Cu and a splendid specific capacitance of 885.0 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 in 1.0 M H2 SO4 . Symmetric supercapacitor Ti3 C2 -Cu//Ti3 C2 -Cu was demonstrated with operating voltage of 1.6 V, areal capacitance of 290.5 mF cm-2 at 1 mA cm-2 , and stability over 10 000 cycles. It delivered an areal energy density of 103.3 μWh cm-2 at power density of 0.8 mW cm-2 , based on which a supercapacitor pouch was fabricated. It provides deeper insights into the molten salt mechanism and strategies for designing MXene-based materials for electrochemical energy storage.

Keywords: MXene; cobalt; copper; molten salt; supercapacitor.