Comparison of Additives in Anode: The Case of Graphene, MXene, CNTs Integration with Silicon Inside Carbon Nanofibers

Recently, graphene oxide (GO), MXene, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been used for compounding with other materials as anodes and cathodes to achieve excellent electrochemical properties for metal-ion batteries. However, few researches have focused on the differences between the three additives. Herein, silicon, as a typical anode, is selected to integrate with MXene, GO and CNTs in carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and form Si/MXene@CNFs, Si/GO@CNFs and Si/CNTs@CNFs, respectively. Together with the results, it can be realized that these CNFs with a significant improved performance compared with pure Si@CNFs show superiority in different aspects of electrochemical properties. Additionally, the reasons for the superiority are also discussed in this work. The addition of MXene can improve the cycle stability of the electrodes, thereby obtaining a high capacity retention rate, CNTs are favorable for the enhancement of rate performance, and the electrodes reversible capacity can be increased due to the addition of GO. Consequently, the studies on three additives may contribute to the rational design of silicon-based and other anode materials.