Physics

Nanotechnology

Electrode

Organic chemistry

Titanium carbide

Cyclic voltammetry

Energy storage

Physical chemistry

Composite material

Power (physics)

Chemistry

Materials science

MXenes

Carbide

Quantum mechanics

Capacitance

Horizontal scan rate

Carbon nanotube

Electrochemistry

Supercapacitor

Gravimetric analysis

APL Materials

Two-dimensional (2D) surface-terminated layered transition metal carbide MXenes with high electrochemical performance paved the way for robust energy storage supercapacitor devices. However, because of the 2D nature of the MXene flakes, self-restacking of 2D MXene flakes limits the use of all the flake functionalized surfaces in MXene electrodes. Here, we report the synthesis of V2CTx MXene and multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/V2CTx composites as a promising electrode material for hybrid energy storage devices. Our hybrid electrodes exhibited enhanced electrochemical performance and a gravimetric capacitance of 1842 F g−1 at a scan rate of 2 mV s−1, with a specific charge capacity of 62.5 A h/g. Moreover, the electrodes presented an excellent rate performance, durability, and retention capacity of 94% lasted up to 10 000 cycles. Density functional theory calculations provided electronic and structural properties of the considered MWCNT@V2CTx. Therefore, the introduction of MWCNTs enhanced the conductivity and reaction kinetics of the MXenes and facilitates the charge storage mechanism useful for next-generation smart energy storage devices.

Enhanced electrochemical performance of vanadium carbide MXene composites for supercapacitors