Facile fabrication of 3D flower-like V2Al1-CT as an anode for lithium-ion batteries

Herein, the 3D flower-like V 2 Al 1- x CT z with an estimated petaloid nanosheet thickness of 10–20 nm were firstly obtained by etching the submicro-sized V 2 AlC precursors, which were synthesized at 1000 °C holding for 5 h in (Na,K)Cl melt by a facile molten salt method, in 40 wt% HF at room temperature. The synthesis mechanism of V 2 AlC is possibly related to the disproportionation reaction of V-ions on carbon surface in molten salts to form V 2 C, followed by the intercalation of Al into V 2 C. Subsequently, the 3D flower-like V 2 Al 1- x CT z was applied as an anode in lithium-ion batteries, releasing ~215.2 mA h g −1 in the continuous 500 cycles at 0.5 A g −1 , which exhibits the superiority in the reversible capacity in contrast with some reported micro-sized layered V 2 CT z MXenes. Such excellent electrochemical characteristics of V 2 Al 1- x CT z could be mainly ascribed to its unique submicro-sized flower-like morphology with high specific surface areas and abundant electrochemical sites for accommodating the reversible insertion/extraction of Li-ions. • 3D flower-like V 2 Al 1- x CT z was firstly obtained by etching the submicro-sized V 2 AlC precursors. • Thickness of the nanosheets on V 2 Al 1- x CT z with a lot of defects was estimated as 10–20 nm. • The V 2 Al 1- x CT z exhibits desirable electrochemical performances as an anode in LIBs. • It may be extended to the synthesis of MXenes with diverse morphologies as anodes for LIBs.