Research Projects

The scarcity of fossil fuels, rising pollution, and increasing energy demand necessitate the use of clean energy storage systems like supercapacitors (sCs) for practical applications. However, in India, the unavailability of suitable electrode materials and expertise in handling volatile and moisture-sensitive electrolytes hinder the successful commercialization of sCs. The proposal focuses on developing highly capacitive layered transition metal carbides (MXenes) based sCs with aqueous electrolytes to enable efficient sC manufacturing in ambient conditions. MXenes with M=Ti or V, & X=C exhibit -50% higher gravimetric capacitance due to their maximum exposure to electrolytes. However, parent MXenes suffer from poor surface area, causing insufficient active sites, interrupted charge transfer, and low storage performance. structural and compositional modifications of Ti2C and V2C MXenes are proposed to enrich their surface and electrochemical properties. The proposal aims to develop M2AlX type (M=Ti or V & X=C) MAX phases with 95% purity in 100-200 g scale using a simple and cost-effective pressureless sintering process. After developing desired MAXs, Ti2C and V2C MXenes will be derived and modified to manufacture sC devices with 80-100 F capacitance and energy density of 20-30 Wh or kg in two forms: 2032 type coin and 18650 type cylindrical cell.