New Method for the Synthesis of 2D Vanadium Nitride (MXene) and Its Application as a Supercapacitor Electrode

Abstract

MXenes are the class of two-dimensional transition metal carbides and nitrides that exhibit unique properties and are used in a multitude of applications such as biosensors, water purification, electromagnetic interference shielding, electrocatalysis, supercapacitors, and so forth. Carbide-based MXenes are being widely explored, whereas investigations on nitride-based ones are seldom. Among the nitride-based MXenes obtained from their MAX phases, only Ti4N3 and Ti2N are reported so far. Herein, we report a novel synthesis of V2NTx (Tx is the surface termination) obtained by the selective removal of "Al"from V2AlN by immersing powders of V2AlN in the LiFâ'HCl mixture (saltâ'acid etching) followed by sonication to obtain V2NTx (Tx = â'F, â'O) MXene which is then delaminated using the dimethyl sulfoxide solvent. The V2NTx MXene is characterized by Xray diffraction studies, field emission scanning electron microscope imaging, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope imaging. Supercapacitor electrodes are prepared using V2NTx MXenes and their electrochemical performances are examined by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge measurement, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The V2NTx MXene electrode exhibits a specific capacitance of 112.8 F/g at a current density of 1.85 mA/cm2 with an energy and power density of 15.66 W h/kg and 3748.4 W/kg, respectively, in 3.5 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. The electrode exhibits an excellent capacitance retention of 96% even after 10,000 charge/discharge cycles. An asymmetric supercapacitor fabricated with V2NTx as a negative electrode and Mn3O4 nanowalls as a positive electrode helps obtain a cell voltage of 1.8 V in aqueous KOH electrolyte.