Microwave-assisted synthesis of three-dimensional MXene derived metal oxide/carbon nanotube/iron hybrids for enhanced lithium-ions storage

Abstract

We developed herein a fast and scalable approach to synthesize three-dimensional MXene derived metal oxide/carbon nanotube/iron hybrids via microwave irradiation under ambient condition. SEM and TEM images show that carbon nanotubes vertically grow on the MXene nanosheets, with both the nanosheets and the nanotubes decorated by TiO2/Fe2O3 nanoparticles, resulting in a hierarchical hybrid structure. The obtained hybrids demonstrate good electrochemical performance when tested as anode in LIBs, due to their three-dimensional conductive networks and hierarchical structures for efficient charge-transfer, and the accessibility of lithium ions to the electrode materials. Furthermore, this work offers new exciting opportunities to developing electrode materials with high specific capacity for energy conversion and storage.