Fabrication of Cobaltosic Oxide Nanoparticle-Doped 3 D MXene/Graphene Hybrid Porous Aerogels for All-Solid-State Supercapacitors

Chemistry. 2019 Apr 11;25(21):5547-5554. doi: 10.1002/chem.201806342. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Abstract

MXenes are a new family of 2 D transition metal carbides and nitrides, which have attracted enormous attention in electrochemical energy storage, sensing technology, and catalysis owing to their good conductivity, high specific surface area, and excellent electrochemical properties. In this work, a series of Co3 O4 -doped 3 D MXene/RGO hybrid porous aerogels is designed and prepared through a facile in situ reduction and thermal annealing process, in which the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) conductive network can electrically link the separated Co3 O4 -MXene composite nanosheets, leading to enhanced electronic conductivity. It is found that upon using the Co3 O4 -MXene/RGO hybrid porous aerogel prepared with a mass ratio of Co3 O4 -MXene/RGO of 3:1 (CMR31) as an electrode for a supercapacitor, a superior specific capacitance of 345 F g-1 at the current density of 1 A g-1 is achieved, which is significantly higher than those of Ti3 C2 Tx MXene, RGO, and MXene/RGO electrodes. In addition, a high capacitance retention (85 % of the initial capacitance after 10 000 cycles at a high current density of 3 A g-1 ) and a low internal resistance Rs (0.44 Ω) can be achieved. An all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) device is assembled using CMR31, and it has the ability to light up a blue LED indicator for 5 min if four ASCs are connected in series. Therefore, these novel Co3 O4 -MXene/RGO hybrid porous aerogels have potential practical applications in high-energy storage devices.

Keywords: MXene; electrochemistry; hybrid porous aerogel; nanostructures; porous structures; supercapacitors.