Ti3C2Tx MXene@metal-organic frameworks-derived bead-like carbon nanofibers heterostructure aerogel for enhanced performance lithium/sodium storage

Abstract

MXene has shown remarkable performance in constructing stable interfacial interactions with high metal-like conductivity and abundant surface functional groups for Li+/Na+ storage. However, traditional MXene nanosheets face challenges in commercial applications for lithium/sodium-ion batteries (LIBs/SIBs) due to aggregation and self-stacking problems. In this study, we introduced a novel porous Ti3C2Tx MXene-based heterostructure aerogel with a unique metal-organic frameworks (MOF)-derived bead-like structure. This structure is composed of MIL-88 A along the radial alignment of N-doping carbon nanofibers and layer Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets through a process involving electrospinning, in-situ growth, calcination and freeze-drying methods. The resulting MOF-derived bead-like structure of the heterostructure aerogel composite enables fast ion/electron diffusion and provides structural durability, thereby alleviating the accumulation of MXene nanosheets. This innovative design addresses volume expansion concerns and offers additional channels for Li+/Na+ transport. As a consequence, the obtained MOF-Fe2O3@carbon@Ti3C2Tx MXene composite nanofibers show high-rate performance, achieving 202 mAh g−1 at 10 A g−1 for LIBs and 98 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1 for SIBs. The excellent cycling performance is observed with a capacity of 401 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 after 2000 cycles for LIBs and 197 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 1000 cycles for SIBs.