Molten Salt Derived Nb2CTx MXene Anode for Li-ion Batteries

2D MXenes, are receiving increasing attention thanks to their outstanding performance for electrochemical energy-storage applications. So far, Ti3C2 is the most studied MXene, while less effort is dedicated to investigating many other MXenes. In this paper, we report the preparation of Nb2CTx MXene by Lewis acidic etching in molten salts. The achieved Nb2CTx MXene is able to deliver a maximum lithium storage capacity up to 330 mAh g(-1) at 0.05 A g(-1), outperforming the maximum capacity (205 mAh g(-1)) achieved by molten salt derived Ti3C2Tx MXene. The high-rate performance is also obtained with a capacity of 80 mAh g(-1) at 10 A g(-1) (100 C). This work highlights the promising potential of Nb-based MXenes to be explored as high-rate lithium storage electrodes.

Automated summary

2D MXenes, especially Nb2CTx MXene prepared by Lewis acidic etching in molten salts, show promising potential as high-rate lithium storage electrodes with a maximum lithium storage capacity of 330 mAh g(-1) at 0.05 A g(-1) and a capacity of 80 mAh g(-1) at 10 A g(-1).