Multitasking Tartaric Acid-Enabled Highly Conductive, Stable Titanium Carbide MXene/PEDOT:PSS Composite for Ultrafast Supercapacitor

Ti3C2Tx (MXene), a thriving member of two-dimensional (2D) materials, has shown rising potential in a myriad of applications ranging from printable electronics to energy storage and separation membranes. Nevertheless, the dilemma of its oxidative instability and the easy disintegration of its assemblies in contact with water has been restricting its real-life use. Herein, we discovered the surprising benefits of tartaric acid, a natural source, as a non-innocent additive in the MXene composite. In water, it could above all inhibit oxidation of Ti3C2Tx and hold individual components in the composite Ti3C2Tx/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy thiophene):polystyrene sulfonate) (Ti3C2Tx/PEDOT:PSS) firmly together; equally important, it could boost fourfold the composite’s electron conductivity in comparison to the additive-free one. To showcase its practical value, a tartaric acid-treated, water-stable MXene/PEDOT:PSS conductive coating was made and served as electrodes for ultrafast supercapacitor; among all 2D materials-based assemblies, our supercapacitor delivers the record-high performance in alternating current filtering application.