Further surface modification by carbon coating for in-situ growth of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on MXene Ti3C2 multilayers for advanced Li-ion storage

Herein, a new nanocomposite was synthesized via in-situ growth of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles on MXene Ti 3 C 2 multilayer to improve the electrochemical performance of anodes by integrating the merits of transition metal oxide and Ti 3 C 2 , where further surface modification of Fe 3 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 nanocomposites by carbon coating was introduced here. The nanocomposites exhibited excellent electrochemical performance in Li-ion storage when used as the anode materials, which benefited from the combination of the high capacity of magnetite and favorable electrical conductivity of Ti 3 C 2 . The optimized Fe 3 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 -2.5 (a mass ratio of 1.1) showed a high reversible capacity of 342.9 mAh·g −1 at 1C, which exceeded the theoretical capacity of bare Ti 3 C 2 monolayer (320 mAh·g −1 ), and an impressive rate reversibility. TEM presented that the carbon layers were homogeneously coated on the surface of nanocomposites with a thickness of approximately 1 nm. The electrochemical measurement showed that C-coated Fe 3 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 -2.5 presented enhanced cycling performance (382.9 mAh·g −1 at 1C and 236.7 mAh·g −1 at 5C) and cycling stability. This work presents a promising route for preparation of transition metal oxides@MXene nanocomposites as well as further surface modification for advanced Li-ion storage.