Ti3C2Tx MXene/alginate-based electrodes for supercapacitors

Abstract

The promising application of MXenes in energy storage-based solutions is seriously affected by stacking processes that reduce available active sites for charge accumulation. Incorporating MXene into biopolymer templates represents a promising strategy to avoid aggregation of active electrochemical compounds, resulting in the optimization of the specific capacitance and energy/power density. Herein, the production of Ti3C2Tx/alginate composites is explored as a part of a strategy to reduce the aggregation degree in MXene while preserving the electrical output performance of the overall electrode. By effectively incorporating MXene into sodium alginate-based electrodes, the energy density and power density of a 2-electrode device were 10.2 Wh kg–1 and 1724.1 W kg–1, respectively. This paper highlights a competitive device prototype with a reduced MXene content compared to a pure MXene electrode, significantly lowering the final cost of the resulting supercapacitor due to the lower density of the active electrochemical filler.