Synergistic effect of noble metal doping and composite formation to boost the electrochemical properties of vanadium pentoxide

Abstract

Herein, a hydrothermal method was used for the synthesis of V2O5 nanowires (NWs) and Ag-doped V2O5. The prepared doped material was intercalated in MXene for the preparation of an Ag-doped V2O5/MXene nanocomposite using a facile ultrasonication method. For structural and morphological confirmation, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were used. Additionally, for electrochemical measurements, cyclic voltammetry (CV), cyclic-charge discharge (CCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were performed. To avoid the restacking of Al-etched layers of MXene, Ag–V2O5 nanowires were intercalated. This strategy ultimately increases the conductive channels, which helps in boosting the electrochemical properties of Ag–V2O5 nanowires. To fabricate electrodes, indium tin oxide (ITO) was used as a substrate. As prepared, the Ag-doped V2O5/MXene@ITO electrode showed a significant increase in the specific capacity. For the Ag-doped V2O5/MXene@ITO electrode, the calculated specific capacitance was 875 F/g (at 1 A/g) using galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) data. Also, it lost 6.1% of capacitance after the 3000th cycle. Results suggest that as-synthesized Ag–V2O5/MXene nanocomposite is a potential electrode material for energy storage.