Ti3C2Tx MXene based hybrid electrodes for wearable supercapacitors with varied deformation capabilities

Abstract Free-standing electrodes with high electrical conductivity, good deformability and durability are critical for flexible electronics, especially in field of wearable energy storage devices. Here, three dimensional (3D) Ti3C2Tx MXene/reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/carbon (MGC-500) hybrid electrode fabricated by the simple template method is presented. Commercial melamine foam (MF) worked as template not only enables the Ti3C2Tx/rGO nanosheets to form a porous architecture, but also introduces the heteroatom nitrogen into the Ti3C2Tx/rGO nanosheets during the annealing process. The as-prepared MGC-500 electrode shows a gravimetric capacitance of 276F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1. When the MGC-500 hybrid electrodes are assembled into an all solid-state supercapacitor, it shows a stable electrochemical performance at different compressive strains. Notably, we find that the MGC-500 foam electrode coated with PVA-H2SO4 gel electrolyte can be compressed into flexible film at 80% of compression. And the supercapacitor devices assembled by the film also exhibit stable capacitance under different modes of deformations such as bending and twist. The developed template approach offers a simple strategy to fabricate free-standing Ti3C2Tx MXene electrode for energy storage devices that can withstand varied deformations, and also can be extended to other members of the large MXene family.