Amid the growing demand for renewable energy storage solutions, there is a pressing need to enhance the performance of electrochemical devices such as batteries. These devices are often slow to charge and may pose environmental and safety concerns.
Dr. Abdoulaye Djire, a chemical engineering professor at Texas A&M University, alongside chemical engineering undergraduate student James Kasten, is pioneering the development of new materials for improved energy storage.
This endeavor marks the initial phase toward realizing a new generation of energy storage devices that combine the benefits of current technologies while addressing their limitations.
Djire's team focuses on a compound known as MXenes, which could be a compelling alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries. Specifically, they are exploring the promising advantages of nitride MXenes.
“In this article, we demonstrated high electrochemical charge storage in Ti4N3Tx nitride MXene using aqueous electrolytes,” Djire said. “We hope this work paves the way to the development of energy storage devices that can be fully charged within seconds and that can last for days.”We hope this work paves the way to the development of energy storage devices that can be fully charged within seconds and that can last for days.
The team’s research underscores the potential of nitride MXenes to serve as a dependable option for energy storage devices, with applications spanning from small electronics and large-scale grid storage to electric vehicles.
Djire emphasizes that the long-term objective of advancing energy storage technology is to achieve rapid charging and extended lifespan.
“There's a lot of work that remains to be done prior to the full realization of this energy storage technology,” Djire said. “This is the first step of more exciting research that we're going to be doing here at Texas A&M.”
Moving forward, the team plans to continue studying the charge storage mechanisms of the nitride MXenes to optimize their performance to meet future energy storage demands.
Djire anticipates that their ongoing research will have a significant impact across various domains reliant on energy storage solutions.
In acknowledgment of their collaborative efforts, the team extends gratitude to other contributors, including Ben Hsiao, Denis Johnson, Bright Ngozichukwu, and Ray Yoo from the Djire lab, as well as Seungjoo Lee and Dr. Ali Erdemir from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M.