Structural engineering and carbon enrichment in V2CTx MXene: An approach for enhanced supercapacitive charge storage

Abstract

We report a highly electroactive vanadium carbide MXene in a carbon matrix (V2CTx @C), synthesized with the assistance of metal organic frameworks (MOFs). The morphological changes in the stacked nanosheets of V2CTx MXene resulted in the formation of exfoliated carbon enriched V2CTx nanodiscs which exhibited 3 times increased specific surface area, augmented electronic conductivity, and enhanced electrode/electrolyte interfacial contact area. This altogether led to a high specific capacitance (551 F g−1 at 2 A g−1), remarkable rate performance (317 F g−1 at 10 A g−1), and outstanding cycling stability (88.1% retention after 5000 GCD cycles) of the V2CTx @C electrode. The V2CTx @C || V2CTx @C symmetric cell operates up to 1.2 V, displaying ultrahigh energy/power density (48.6 Wh kg−1 and 552 W kg−1). This work provides a new strategy for structural engineering in MXene based electrode materials for next generation energy storage devices.