Additive-free red phosphorus/Ti3C2Tx MXene nanocomposite anodes for metal–ion batteries

Abstract

Herein, we report on scalable, environmentally benign, and additive-free, high-performance anodes for alkali–metal–ion batteries (MIBs, where M = Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺). The intercalators in these anodes are the red phosphorus (RP) nanoparticles of uniform size (∼40 nm), which are dispersible and blend with water-dispersed Ti₃C₂T_x MXene, forming a highly viscous aqueous slurry to fabricate additive-free nanocomposite electrodes. We further enhanced their performance using a very low weight percentage of various carbonaceous nanomaterials. Our RP-MWCNT/MXene nanocomposite anodes exhibited enhanced ion transport and low charge transfer resistance, delivering specific capacities of 1293.7 mA h g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹ and 263.3 mA h g⁻¹ at 2600 mA g⁻¹ for 10 000 cycles in Li⁺ cells, 371.6 mA h g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹ in Na⁺ cells, and 732.8 mA h g⁻¹ at 50 mA g⁻¹ in K⁺ cells. Our work shows a path towards fabricating nanoarchitectured electrodes using sustainable materials to eliminate inert polymer binders, toxic processing solvents, and rare earth elements from the battery fabrication process for next-generation alkali–metal–ion batteries.