S.M.M. Alonzo, B.P. Bastakoti
North carolina A&T State University,
United States
Keywords: MXene, energy storage, supercapacitor, 2D materials
Summary:
We report the intercalation of polyacrylonitrile nanoparticles in Ti3C2Tx MXene layers through a simple sonication method. The polyacrylonitrile polymer was synthesized using radical polymerization in an aqueous environment. The use of polyacrylonitrile as an intercalating agent offered dual benefits: (1) It increased the interlayer spacing of MXene, thereby exposing more surface area and enhancing ion transport channels during charge and discharge cycles, and (2) Integrating MXene with polyacrylonitrile enables the creation of a composite with conductive properties, following percolation principle. X-ray diffraction analysis showed an increase in the c-lattice parameter, indicative of the interlayer spacing, from 22.31 Å for the pristine MXene to 37.73 Å for the MXene–polyacrylonitrile composite. The intercalated polyacrylonitrile nanoparticles facilitated the delamination by weakening the interlayer interactions, especially during sonication. Electrochemical assessments revealed significant improvement in the properties of the MXene-polyacrylonitrile composite compared to the pristine MXene. The assembled asymmetric device achieved a good specific capacitance, energy density, and capacitance retention, highlighting the practical potential of the MXene-polyacrylonitrile composite. Reference ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2024, 16, 64784–64796.