Ti₃C₂T_x MXene decorated with Sb nanoparticles as anodes material for sodium-ion batteries

A large family of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides, MXene, has demonstrated potential applications for electrochemical energy storage. 2D MXene sheets may buffer large volume changes and form a 3D conductive network to facilitate the electronic transfer of working electrodes. However, multilayer Ti₃C₂T_x material could only deliver a moderate capacity in sodium ion battery cells, below the requirement of commercial applications. Herein, we decorated multilayer MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x) with Sb nanoparticles (NPs) via a facile solution-phase method, in which Sb NPs with a diameter of about 5–10 nm are absorbed on the surface of MXene layers by the electrostatic attraction action. The hybrid material Ti₃C₂T_x@Sb-0.5 delivers a higher reversible capacity of 200 mA h g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ than that of pure Ti₃C₂T_x (90 mA h g⁻¹), and shows a much better capacity retention of nearly 98% after 500 cycles compared with Sb NPs. Also, it achieves superior rate performance (remaining a capacity of 127 mA h g⁻¹ at 2 A g⁻¹) and excellent long-term stability (a capacity retention of almost 92.3% after 8000 cycles). These results indicate that Ti₃C₂T_x@Sb-0.5 possess a potential for high-performance sodium ion batteries anodes. (paper)