Amorphous Heterostructure Derived from Ti3C2Tx MXene Towards Superior Lithium-ion Storage

doi:10.1007/s40242-026-6057-5

Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (5): 1544-1553.doi: 10.1007/s40242-026-6057-5

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Amorphous Heterostructure Derived from Ti₃C₂T_x MXene Towards Superior Lithium-ion Storage

AKHTAR Hassan¹, CHIMTALI Joseph Peter^1,3, REHMAN Ur Zohaib², AHMED Musab Syed¹, ABBAS Numan⁴, WANG Changda¹, SONG Li¹

1. National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, P. R. China;
2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, P. R. China;
3. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Malawi, P. O. Box 280, Zomba, Malawi;
4. College of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China

Received:2026-03-02 Accepted:2026-05-14 Online:2026-10-01 Published:2026-09-24
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2022YFA1504104), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12225508, 52202120 and U23A20121), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA0410401), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (No. WK2060000099), the USTC Research Funds of the Double First-Class Initiative, China (No. YD2310002013), the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents, China (No. BX20230346) and the CAS ANSO Fellowship.

Abstract

Abstract: Engineering atomic disorder beyond conventional ordered frameworks offers a promising route to unlock the full electrochemical potential of MXenes. Herein, we report the rational design of a heterostructure Ti₃C₂T_x MXene (h-Ti₃C₂T_x) via a controlled ammonium persulfate-induced amorphization strategy. This approach introduces long-range atomic disorder while preserving the MXene layered structure, creating abundant active sites and synergistically enhancing structural robustness. Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (sXAS) provided direct evidence of the phase evolution from crystalline MXene (c-Ti₃C₂T_x) to h-Ti₃C₂T_x MXene, revealing the formation of a genuine heterogeneous architecture. High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) further confirmed the dual-phase structure, in which crystalline domains coexist with amorphous regions. Complementary selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) established a clear processing-structure relationship, demonstrating a progressive reduction in crystallinity with increasing treatment time. The h-Ti₃C₂T_x electrode delivered a high reversible capacity of 464.4 mA·h·g^-1 at 0.1 A/g and outstanding rate capability, retaining 173 mA·h·g^-1 at 3.0 A/g, surpassing many previously reported Ti₃C₂T_x MXenes. Ex situ analysis further confirmed the exceptional structural stability of the heterostructured electrode. Overall, this study establishes a spectroscopy-guided heterostructure engineering paradigm for MXenes, providing fundamental insights into crystalline-amorphous coupling and offering a broadly applicable strategy for developing next-generation high-performance Li-ion battery anode materials.

Key words: MXene, Composite material, Synchrotron radiation characterization, Lithium-ion storage, Structural design, Storage mechanism

AKHTAR Hassan, CHIMTALI Joseph Peter, REHMAN Ur Zohaib, AHMED Musab Syed, ABBAS Numan, WANG Changda, SONG Li. Amorphous Heterostructure Derived from Ti₃C₂T_x MXene Towards Superior Lithium-ion Storage[J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2026, 42(5): 1544-1553.

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Amorphous Heterostructure Derived from Ti₃C₂T_x MXene Towards Superior Lithium-ion Storage

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