Halogenated Ti3C2 MXenes with Electrochemically Active Terminals for High-Performance Zinc Ion Batteries

The class of two-dimensional metal carbides and nitrides known as MXenes offer a distinct manner of property tailoring for a wide range of applications. The ability to tune the surface chemistry for expanding the property space of MXenes is thus an important topic, although experimental exploration of surface terminals remains a challenge. Here, we synthesized Ti3C2 MXene with unitary, binary, and ternary halogen terminals, e.g., -Cl, -Br, -I, -BrI, and -ClBrI, to investigate the effect of surface chemistry on the properties of MXenes. The electrochemical activity of Br and I elements results in the extraordinary electrochemical performance of the MXenes as cathodes for aqueous zinc ion batteries. The -Br- and -I-containing MXenes, e.g., Ti3C2Br2 and Ti3C2I2, exhibit distinct discharge platforms with considerable capacities of 97.6 and 135 mA.g(-1). Ti3C2 (BrI) and Ti3C2 (ClBrI) exhibit dual discharge platforms with capacities of 117.2 and 106.7 mAh.g(-1). In contrast, the previously discovered MXenes Ti3C2Cl2 and Ti3C2 (OF) exhibit no discharge platforms and only similar to 50% of capacities and energy densities of Ti3C2Br2. These results emphasize the effectiveness of the Lewis-acidic-melt etching route for tuning the surface chemistry of MXenes and also show promise for expanding the MXene family toward various applications.

Automated summary

Experimental exploration of various halogen terminals on the surface of Ti3C2 MXenes showed that the presence of Br and I elements resulted in improved electrochemical performance for aqueous zinc ion batteries. The Lewis-acidic-melt etching route proved to be effective in tuning the surface chemistry of MXenes for expanding their potential applications.