Effect of Synthesis on Performance of MXene/Iron Oxide Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Two-dimensional heterostructures, such as FeO/MXene nanoparticles, can be attractive anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the synergy between high lithium-storage capacity of FeO and stable cyclability and high conductivity provided by MXene. Here, we improved the storage performance of TiCT (MXene)/FeO nanocomposite by confining FeO nanoparticles into TiCT nanosheets with different mixing ratios using a facile and scalable dry ball-milling process. Composites of TiCT -25 wt % FeO and TiCT -50 wt % FeO synthesized by ball-milling resulted in uniform distribution of FeO nanoparticles on TiCT nanosheets with minimum oxidation of MXene as compared to composites prepared by hydrothermal or wet sonication. Moreover, the composites demonstrated minimum restacking of the nanosheets and higher specific surface area. Among all studied composites, the TiCT -50 wt % FeO showed the highest reversible specific capacity of ∼270 mAh g at 1C (∼203 mAh g based on the composite) and rate performance of 100 mAh g at 10C. This can open the door for synthesizing stable and high-performance MXene/transition metal oxide composites with significantly enhanced electrochemical performance for LIB applications.