Durable sodium battery composed of conductive Ti3C2Tx MXene modified gel polymer electrolyte

The research of electrolyte is an effective strategy to improve the electrochemical performance of batteries. Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) play an essential role in battery safety and stability. In this work, a new GPEs membrane was prepared by blending PVDF-HFP/PMMA and prepared Ti3C2Tx MXene, and its electrochemical performance in sodium ion batteries (SIB) was studied. Due to the presence of loose and multilayered structure Ti3C2Tx MXene filler, the electrochemical performance of the battery is significantly improved, because the Ti3C2Tx MXene filler can enlarge the porosity of polymer membranes and increase the Na-ion contact sites. In addition, the unique parallel-arranged layered structure can facilitate the uniform nucleation and growth of sodium on the surface of the sodium electrode, hindering the growth of sodium dendrites during the sodium deposition process. When 8 wt% Ti3C2Tx MXene was added, the GPE membrane obtained had a high ionic conductivity of 3.28 x 10(-3) S cm(-1), a high sodium ion transfer number of 0.558, and a wide electrochemical window of 5.25 V as well as excellent thermal stability. The Na3V2(PO4)(3)/GPE/Na battery exhibits 95% capacity retention after 300 cycles at 0.5C in room temperature. The presented results suggest that the Ti3C2Tx MXene modified GPE is a promising electrolyte for energy storage batteries.

Automated summary

By incorporating Ti3C2Tx MXene filler, the GPE membrane demonstrated improved electrochemical performance and enhanced conductivity, while preventing the formation of sodium dendrites on the electrode surface.