Fe3O4 nanoplates anchored on Ti3C2Tx MXene with enhanced pseudocapacitive and electrocatalytic properties

Abstract

Ti₃C₂T_x, as novel members of the two-dimensional material family, hold great promise for electrochemical energy storage and catalysis, however, the electrochemical performance of Ti₃C₂T_x is largely limited by the self-restacking of their layers due to van der Waals forces. In this study, we report a high-performance electrode material, Ti₃C₂T_x supported Fe₃O₄ nanoplates (denoted as MXene–Fe), synthesized by a simple in situ wet chemistry method in a solvothermal system. The mesoporous MXene–Fe material as a supercapacitor electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 368.0 F g⁻¹ at 1.0 A g⁻¹ and long cycling stability with about 81% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles at 10.0 A g⁻¹. Moreover, the optimized MXene–Fe also displays high electrocatalytic activity and stability toward the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline solution (1.0 M KOH) with a low overpotential of 290 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 65.1 mV dec⁻¹. This work provides an effective strategy for developing novel Ti₃C₂T_x-based functional materials with outstanding electrochemical performance for supercapacitors and electrocatalysis.