Room Temperature Oxidation of Ti₃C₂MXene for Supercapacitor Electrodes

Two kinds of Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 hybrids were synthesized by room temperature oxidation methods, named as Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanoparticles and Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanowires, respectively. Effects of reaction time and concentration of NaOH solution on the microstructures and electrochemical performances of Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 composites were studied in details. When used as electrodes for supercapacitors, both Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanoparticles and Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanowires exhibit enhanced supercapacitive performances. The electrochemical measurement results show that the specific capacitances of Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanoparticles and Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanowires electrodes are 128 and 143 F/g at 2 mV/s, respectively, which are larger than that of Ti 3 C 2 MXene (91 F/g). Furthermore, after 6000 charge–discharge cycles at 5 A/g, 88% and 80% of the initial capacitances are retained for Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanoparticles and Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 –nanowires, respectively. Therefore, this work not only enhances the understanding of the surface states and morphology structures of Ti 3 C 2 MXene at different reaction condition in the aqueous solutions, but also provides simple and facile ways to fabricate Ti 3 C 2 /TiO 2 composites with superior supercapacitive performances.