Assembly of Nanofluidic MXene Fibers with Enhanced Ionic Transport and Capacitive Charge Storage by Flake Orientation.

Abstract

MXenes are an emerging class of highly conductive two-dimensional (2D) materials with electrochemical storage features. Oriented macroscopic Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> fibers can be fabricated from a colloidal 2D nematic phase dispersion. The layered conductive Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> fibers are ideal candidates for constructing high-speed ionic transport channels to enhance the electrochemical capacitive charge storage performance. In this work, we assemble Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> fibers with a high degree of flake orientation by a wet spinning process with controlled spinning speeds and morphology of the spinneret. In addition to the effects of cross-linking of magnesium ions between Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> flakes, the electronic conductivity and mechanical strength of the as-prepared fibers have been improved to 7200 S cm^-1 and 118 MPa, respectively. The oriented Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> fibers present a volumetric capacitive charge storage capability of up to 1360 F cm^-3 even in a Mg-ion based neutral electrolyte, with contributions from both nanofluidic ion transport and Mg-ion intercalation pseudocapacitance. The oriented 2D Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> driven nanofluidic channels with great electronic conductivity and mechanical strength endows the MXene fibers with attributes for serving as conductive ionic cables and active materials for fiber-type capacitive electrochemical energy storage, biosensors, and potentially biocompatible fibrillar tissues.