Ti3C2 MXene-derived Li4Ti5O12 nanoplates with in-situ formed carbon quantum dots for metal-ion battery anodes

Two-dimensional (2D) material Ti3C2 MXenes have recently been used in electrode composites for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for their excellent electrical conductivity and accordion-like nanosheet morphology. However, Ti3C2 has low specific capacity and fast degradation rate upon cycling after inevitably coupling with surface species during synthesis. In this work, Ti3C2 is used as Ti-source for Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) and C-source for carbon quantum dots (CQDs) in a one-step hydrothermal process. The resultant LTO product (M-LTO) inherits the nanosheet morphology of Ti3C2 with uniformly anchored CQDs. The highly electronic conductive CQDs optimize the transmission path of ions which reduces the diffusion barrier of ions, and they further increase the density of states of the material which effectively improving the conductivity of M-LTO. Remarkable electrochemical performances including high initial specific capacity, long lifetime and excellent low temperature capacity are demonstrated for this type of electrode in LIBs, sodium ion batteries (SIBs) and lithium-magnesium ion hybrid batteries (LMIHBs). This paper offers a new strategy to the rapidly expanding research on the application of transition metal MXenes in electrodes for metal-ion batteries.