Additive-free red phosphorus/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanocomposite anodes for metal–ion batteries

• Published in: Energy advances Vol. 1; no. 12; pp. 999 - 1008
• Main Authors: Subramaniyam, Chandrasekar M, Kang, Min-A, Li, Jian, VahidMohammadi, Armin, Hamedi, Mahiar Max
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 08.12.2022
• ISSN: 2753-1457; 2753-1457
• DOI: 10.1039/D2YA00168C

Herein, we report on scalable, environmentally benign, and additive-free, high-performance anodes for alkali–metal–ion batteries (MIBs, where M = Li + , Na + , K + ). The intercalators in these anodes are the red phosphorus (RP) nanoparticles of uniform size (∼40 nm), which are dispersible and blend with water-dispersed Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene, forming a highly viscous aqueous slurry to fabricate additive-free nanocomposite electrodes. We further enhanced their performance using a very low weight percentage of various carbonaceous nanomaterials. Our RP-MWCNT/MXene nanocomposite anodes exhibited enhanced ion transport and low charge transfer resistance, delivering specific capacities of 1293.7 mA h g −1 at 500 mA g −1 and 263.3 mA h g −1 at 2600 mA g −1 for 10 000 cycles in Li + cells, 371.6 mA h g −1 at 500 mA g −1 in Na + cells, and 732.8 mA h g −1 at 50 mA g −1 in K + cells. Our work shows a path towards fabricating nanoarchitectured electrodes using sustainable materials to eliminate inert polymer binders, toxic processing solvents, and rare earth elements from the battery fabrication process for next-generation alkali–metal–ion batteries.