Reduced graphene oxide bridged, TiO2 modified and Mn3O4 intercalated Ti3C2Tx sandwich-like nanocomposite as a high performance anode for enhanced lithium storage applications.

Ti 3 C 2 T x , a novel two-dimensional metal carbide, is regarded as a promising candidate for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its unique layered structure, good conductivity and low barrier for Li + diffusion. However, Ti 3 C 2 T x has low capacity and poor rate capability due to the severe interlayer stacking and functionalization group of hydroxyl, oxygen or fluorine existing in Ti 3 C 2 T x particles, limiting its widespread applications. Herein, we have firstly offered a relatively simple and rapid synthetic method to fabricate a 3D quaternary rGO/TiO 2 /Mn 3 O 4 /Ti 3 C 2 T x nanocomposite as LIBs anode material. Ti 3 C 2 T x acts as a conductive framework to enhance the electronic transport properties. Besides, this unique layered structure contributes partially to the enhancement of the total theoretical capacity of the active material. Mn 3 O 4 functions as the dominant part of the active material to contribute an extraordinarily high theoretical capacity. TiO 2 nanoparticles and rGO nanosheets can effectively shorten the electron/ion diffusion channels and construct a highly conductive matrix for the fast transfer of electron and Li + . Meanwhile, both of them can also efficaciously buffer the volume change effect during lithiation/delithiation process. As expected, rGO/TiO 2 /Mn 3 O 4 /Ti 3 C 2 T x material has presented significantly outstanding lithium ion storage capabilities, high Coulombic efficiency, excellent long-term cyclability and superior rate capability. For an example, the rGO/TiO 2 /Mn 3 O 4 /Ti 3 C 2 T x anode exhibits high specific capacity of 887.2 mA h g -1 at 0.05 A g −1 , almost 2.2 times as much as that of raw Ti 3 C 2 T x anode (404.9 mA h g -1 ). Even after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A g −1 , the rGO/TiO 2 /Mn 3 O 4 /Ti 3 C 2 T x anode can still deliver a capacity of 221.5 mA h g −1 . Thus the rGO/TiO 2 /Mn 3 O 4 /Ti 3 C 2 T x anode can be ascribed to have a novel 3D sandwich-like collective benefit from the 0D/2D/3D particles/sheets/layers nanoarchitecture and can be used as a promising anode material for high performance LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]