Enhancing role of structurally integrated V2C MXene nanosheets on silicon anode for lithium storage

High-energy lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been actively pursued for practical applications in advanced electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage systems. The silicon (Si) material has been considered as a promising anode candidate due to its impressive lithium storage capacity, but is facing the challenge to ameliorate its cycling and rate performance. We here report a structure integration strategy to overcome major issues of poor capacity retention and slow kinetics during the lithium storage of Si anode, through in situ embedding Si nanoparticles into V2C MXene nanosheets. The MXene-supported Si@V2C nanocomposite anode reveals significantly enhanced cycling stability and improved lithium storage kinetics compared to that of the pristine Si anode. A high capacity exceeding to 430 mAh g−1 can be retained for 150 cycles at 200 mA g−1 current density. In addition, the conductive MXene supporter has been demonstrated to facilitate lithiation/delithiation processes for the Si by enhancing the charge transfer kinetics, as it is demonstrated by in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) and Galvanostatic Intermittent Titration Technique (GITT) measurements. Findings from this work may inspire feasible structural designs for the practical deployment of MXene composited Si anode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. [Display omitted] •Si@V2C composite anode was explored using V2C MXene as supporting substrate with enhanced Si stability performance.•A high capacity of 430 mAh g−1 can be retained for 150 cycles at 200 mA g−1 current density.•The V2C MXene can provide improved electronic conductivity and structural support of the Si anode during cycling.