Hierarchical structure of in-situ Fe2O3 nanoparticles decorated on crumpled Ti3C2Tx nanosheets with enhanced cycle performance as anode for lithium ion battery

This paper presents a simple wet-chemical method for preparing hierarchical Fe2O3@Ti3C2Tx nanocomposites with 50-70 wt% Fe2O3 based on hydrothermal synthesis followed by freeze-drying. In this method, positively charged Fe2O3 nanoparticles homogeneously nucleate in-situ, grow, and are electrostatically anchored on the surface of negatively charged and crumpled Ti3C2Tx nanosheets. The synergy between the Fe2O3 and Ti3C2Tx inhibits the agglomeration and grain growth of the Fe2O3 nanoparticles, prevents the restacking and oxidation of the Ti3C2Tx nanosheets, and provides abundant voids, thus significantly improving the charge transport kinetics of the composite and absorbing the expansion of the Fe2O3 nanoparticles. In this study, a 60 wt% Fe2O3@Ti3C2Tx composite showed excellent electrochemical performance as an anode for a lithium ion battery, with a capacity of 701.86 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 0.2 A g-1 and a capacity of 609.9 mAh g-1 after 600 cycles at 0.5 A g-1. The proposed strategy is scalable, universal applicable for constructing MXene-based hybrids, and can be potentially viable in fields such as energy storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, microwave absorbance, and catalysis.