A team at Texas A&M University is taking significant steps for the development of a new generation of energy storage devices. They aim to develop a device that can combine the benefits of current technologies while addressing their limitations.
Dr. Abdoulaye Djire, a chemical engineering professor at Texas A&M University, as well as a few chemistry engineering graduates are focusing on MXenes, which is expected to be a compelling alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries. Currently, the team is exploring the major advantages of nitride MXenes.
“We hope this work paves the way to the development of energy storage devices that can be fully charged within seconds and that can last for days,” said Djire.
Rapid charging and extended lifespan
“There’s a lot of work that remains to be done prior to the full realization of this energy storage technology. This is the first step of more exciting research that we’re going to be doing here at Texas A&M,” said Djire.
The team will further study the charge storage mechanisms of the nitride MXenes to optimize their performance to meet future energy storage demands.
Djire expects that their ongoing research will have a major impact across various domains reliant on energy storage solutions.
About MXenes
MXenes are two-dimensional materials that consist of titanium and carbon atoms. Their outstanding mechanical strength, ultrahigh surface-to-volume ratio, and superior electrochemical stability make them promising candidates as supercapacitors—that is, as long as they can be arranged in 3D architectures where there is a sufficient volume of nanomaterials and their large surfaces are available for reactions, reported Physics.org.
Difficult to use on the mass scale
Two-dimensional materials are crystals that have one or more layers, all atoms of which are located in the surface layer. This makes them highly chemically active and, as a result, easy to use as electrodes—devices that conduct electric current. However, the synthesis of two-dimensional materials requires expensive equipment, making them difficult to use on a mass scale.
With its layered structures, MXenes enhance electrolyte ion transport and give transition metal active redox sites on the surface. These features make MXenes particularly promising for applications as high-performance electrodes for electrochemical capacitors (supercapacitors).
