A novel plane-line-plane nanostructure of the sandwich-like CNTs@SnO2/Ti3C2Tx 3D nanocomposite as a promising anode for lithium-ion batteries

As one of the novel two-dimensional metal carbides, Ti3C2Tx has received intense attention for lithium-ion batteries. However, Ti3C2Tx has low intrinsic capacity due to the fact that the surface functionalization of F and OH blocks Li ion transport. Herein a novel plane-line-plane three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure is designed and created by introducing the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Sn0(2) nanoparticles to Ti3C2Tx via a simple hydrothermal method. Due to the capacitance contribution of Sn0(2) as well as the buffer role of CNTs, the asfabricated sandwich-like CNTs@Sn0(2)/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite shows high lithium ion storage capabilities, ex cellent rate capability and superior cyclic stability. The galvanostatic electrochemical measurements indicate that the nanocomposite exhibits a superior capacity of 604.1 mAhg(-1) at 0.05 Ag-1, which is higher than that of raw Ti3C2Tx (404.9 mAh g(-1)) Even at 3 Ag-1, it retains a stable capacity (91.7 mAh g(-1)). This capacity is almost 5.6 times higher than that of Ti3C2Tx (16.6 mAh g(_1)) and 58 times higher than that of Sn0(2)/Ti3C2Tx (1.6 mAh g(-1)). Additionally, the capacity of CNTs@Sn0(2)/Ti3C2Tx for the 50th cycle is 180.1 mAh g(-1) at 0.5 Ag-1, also higher than that of Ti3C2Tx (117.2 mAh g(-1)) and Sn0(2)/Ti3C2Tx (65.8 mAh g(-1)), respectively.