Unlocking the power of nano-heterostructured engineering: Advancements in Ti3C2Tx MXene-based heterojunctions for rechargeable ion batteries

The growing scarcity of fossil fuels and the escalating environmental challenges have created a pressing need for clean and sustainable energy resources. On the other hand, the crucial enhancement of electrochemical activities in energy storage relies on several essential characteristics, including a substantial surface area, well-organized structure, effective functionalization, and high porosity. These features have been demonstrated to be indispensable for achieving improved electrochemical performance. Consequently, there is a need to examine the recent advancements of nanostructure two-dimension (2D) materials which particularly have been invented recently, and their hybrid composite nanoarchitectures (NAs) concerning their impact on the electrochemical performance in energy storage systems. Among different types of 2D nanomaterials, MXenes have gained attention as a great potential candidate for diverse electrochemical applications, including rechargeable ion-batteries (RIBs) in Na, Li, K, LiS, NaS ion devices. This is due to their impressive characteristics such as high specific surface area, exceptional electronic conductivity, noteworthy chemical stability, environmental friendliness, stable interfacial connection, quick charge-transfer kinetics, and hydrophilic metal conductivity surfaces. Regrettably, similar to other 2D nanomaterials, MXenes are prone to restacking and overlapping due to strong inter-lamella agglomeration driven by H-bonding and weak non-covalent interactions. The inherent tendency of restacking and overlapping in MXenes hampers the efficient transport of ions and penetration of electrolytes. As a result, this phenomenon leads to performance degradation and capacity loss during the charge-discharge processes of electrochemical reactions. Furthermore, the restacking and overlapping behavior of MXenes can also present challenges during the processing of electrodes containing such nanomaterials. To address these issues and enhance the electrochemical performance, an effective and promising strategy including the construction of nanoarchitectural engineering heterostructures is required. Therefore, some approaches like the combination of metallic conductive MXenes with other highly electrochemically active nanomaterials such as transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and MOF-derived materials could be effective tactics. Incorporating these components as a heterostructure improves properties and overcomes the limitations of MXenes, leading to enhanced electrochemical performances. This work provides insights into the serious challenges and future perspectives for the advancement of MXene-based nanoarchitectural materials such as Ti3C2Tx/TMCs, Ti3C2Tx/COFs, and Ti3C2Tx/MOF-derived heterostructures in the field of electrochemical RIBs.