Secondary Battery Application by Fabrication of Vanadium Mxene
Authors: Roh Kimin , Kim Sun Kyung , Park Tae Jun , Kwon Han Jung , Yoo Jungjoon 
Published: December 2024

Introduction

Secondary batteries have become indispensable in our modern world, powering a wide range of electronic devices and electric vehicles. However, the growing demand for energy storage with higher energy density, faster charging capabilities, and improved sustainability has spurred research into novel materials for advanced battery technologies. MXene, a two-dimensional transition metal carbide or nitride, has emerged as a promising candidate for the secondary battery electrode materials because of high electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical stability, and a large interlayer spacing suitable for accommodating various guest ions. In this abstract, we discuss the synthesis methods of Vanadium MXene and its structural properties and electircal charcteristics for the secondary battery. The ability of a coin cell with MXene electrode to store and release energy and its stable cycling performance. Additionally, we explore the environmental benefits of using MXene, such as its sustainability and recyclability, which align with the growing emphasis on green energy storage solutions.

Experimental and methodology

The basic mixing conditions were set to 2:1.2:0.8 in the molar ratio of V, Al, and C for the formulation of MAX with vanadium metal as a raw material. For uniform mixing and MAX synthesis experiments, a ball mill mixing for 24 hours was conducted. To increase the reactivity between V, Al, and C during the heat treatment process, uniformly mixed raw materials are made into 50mm circular pellets through uniaxial compression and heat treatment is performed. For the etching chemical reaction of MAX, 10 g of MAX V2AlC was added to HF (100 ml) and reacted at 45 ℃ for 72 hours. Through an etching chemical reaction, the Maxine layer of the two-dimensional shape is peeled off, and the vanadium-based Maxine V2CTx is recovered as an intermediate material. After the etching process, the hydrofluoric acid remaining on the MXene surface was washed using centrifugation. MXene powder was recovered in liquid form, and dried by freeze-drying. For complete exfoliation of the MXene, layered V2CTx was added to teteramethylammonium hydroxide (TMA-OH, 10%, 50 ml) at room temperature to produce the delaminated V2CTx form.

Results and discussion

As a result of XRD analysis of the finally manufactured V2CTx, it was confirmed that a clear 2D peak appeared at about 7 degrees, verifying that V2AlC MAX was successfully exfoliated into V2CTx MXene. The disappearance of a sharp peak of MAX at 12 degree also confirmed that the layers of MAX were peeled off as two-dimensional shapes of V2CTx through a chemical etching reaction.

From the AFM analysis results, it was confirmed that the MXene was completely exfoliated into a sheet form and had a thickness of about 2 nm or less. Constant current charge/discharge electrochemical experiments were performed on the coin cells manufactured using MXene in an aqueous electrolyte of 3 M ZnSO4. The synthesized vanadium MXene-based anode showed an initial discharge capacity of 126 mAh/g at a current density of 0.1 A/g, and a maximum capacity of 145 mAh/g was achieved in the initial 5 cycles. As the cycle progresses, the capacity decreases to 130 mAh/g, 89% life stability and >99% coulombic efficiency was shown up to 100 cycles.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Basic Research Project (21-3212-2) of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources and the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) grant by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. CAP22071-000)

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