Preparation of Antioxidative MXene by Deep Eutectic Solvent-Assisted Electrochemical Ultrasonic Composite Exfoliation and Its Application in Flexible Solid-State Supercapacitors

Abstract

In this work, we achieved a novel preparation of Ti3C2 MXene (MXene–DES) with few layers and a high degree of hydroxylation by a deep eutectic solvent (DES)-assisted electrochemical ultrasonic composite exfoliation method which is easy to scale up. The electrochemical process used a mixture of low-cost DES (choline chloride–urea) and water as the electrolyte, in which DES acts as a triple role of intercalation, interlayer expansion, and anti-oxidation. DES attached to the surface and interlayer of layered Ti3C2 formed an antioxidative protective cover, resulting in the layered Ti3C2 being grafted with hydroxyl functional groups instead of forming TiO2 in water during the entire exfoliation process. The prepared MXene–DES exhibits fewer layers, larger interlayer spacing, higher degree of hydroxylation, and stronger oxidation resistance than the MXene prepared by traditional ultrasound in a nitrogen atmosphere (MXene–N2). The symmetric flexible solid-state supercapacitor based on an activated carbon electrode and the composite gel polymer electrolyte composed of MXene–DES, DES, and polyvinyl alcohol exhibits good mechanical properties, a wide voltage window of 2.3 V, and a high specific capacitance of 133.7 F·g–1 (0.1 A·g–1). Our strategy paved a simple, low-cost, and relatively environmentally friendly way to the scalable preparation and application of antioxidative high-quality MXene.