Enhancing Charge Storage of Mo2Ti2C3 MXene by Partial Oxidation

Abstract

Driving the pseudocapacitive redox intercalation in 2DMXenes with neutral electrolytes is important for safer, more sustainable, and improved electrochemical charge storage. Single transition metal MXenes, such as Ti3C2, have shown great promise for energy storage, owing to their high conductivity and redox activity. Mixed metallic MXenes, such as out-of-plane ordered Mo2Ti2C3, have remained underexplored in energy storage because of the absence of redox activity in most of the electrolytes. Simultaneous structural modifications and instigating intercalation pseudocapacitance in neutral electrolytes could be a viable strategy for enhancing their electrochemical properties. Herein, a facile synthesis of partially oxidized Mo2Ti2C3 MXene (PO-Mo2Ti2C3) exhibiting improved charge storage capability is demonstrated. Optical, structural, and spectroscopic analyses indicate the formation of oxide nanostructures upon thermal oxidation of Mo2Ti2C3. This leads to an enhanced energy storage capability with remarkably improved cyclability as well as a high Coulombic efficiency in a neutral LiCl electrolyte. This work highlights the importance of structural modifications of MXenes to enhance their charge storage and shows the promise of less explored double transition metal MXenes in energy storage.