SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONS OF LAYERED 2D Ti3C2 MXene AND ITS α-MnO2/α-MnS nano- COMPOSITES

Abstract

Due to the tremendous demand and continuous depletion of non-renewable fossil energy resources, a need for some sustainable and environmentally benign energy resources is highly increasing. In this regard, nanotechnology and their advanced two-dimensional materials is a magic world of this current era. Graphene and its derivatives have ruled over the list of these two-dimensional materials for quite some time, because of their efficient utilization in energy storage devices. In 2011, MXene’s discovery brought a new revolution in the world of 2D materials because of their attention seeking properties and extensive application potential in a variety of fields. Ti3C2 is the most important MXene of this family due to its exciting energy storage properties. This research work comprises of the synthesis of Ti3C2 MXene by the chemical etching of silicon from Ti3SiC2 MAX phase. For tuning of electrochemical properties, nanocomposites were hydrothermally synthesized by using synthesized MXene and synthesized α-MnO2 /α-MnS. The chemical composition, structure and morphology of the synthesized MXene, synthesized α-MnO2, α-MnS and the synthesized nanocomposites, were studied by characterization techniques like FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM and EDS. The electrochemical performance of the synthesized materials in supercapacitor applications was studied by cyclic voltammetry. The specific capacitance of the MXene was 31F/g and the specific capacitance of nanocomposites MXene/MnO2, MXene/MnS were 521F/g and 150F/g respectively. This remarkable increase in the specific capacitance of the synthesized nanocomposites prove them potential candidates for energy storage applications in supercapacitors.