The practical application of supercapacitors (SCs) has
been known
to be restricted by low energy density, and zinc ion capacitors (ZICs)
with a capacitive cathode and a battery-type anode have emerged as
a unique technology that can effectively mitigate the issue. To this
end, the design of electrodes with low electrochemical impedance,
high specific capacitance, and outstanding reaction stability represents
a critical first step. Herein, we report the synthesis of hierarchical
Ti3C2T
X
@PANI heterostructures
by uniform deposition of conductive polyaniline (PANI) polymer nanofibers
on the exposed surface of the Ti3C2T
X
nanosheets, which are then assembled into a
three-dimensional (3D) cross-linking framework by a graphene oxide
(GO)-assisted self-convergence hydrothermal strategy. This resulting
3D Ti3C2T
X
@PANI-reduced
graphene oxide (Ti3C2T
X
@PANI-RGO) heterostructure hydrogel shows a large surface area (488.75
F g–1 at 0.5 A g–1), outstanding
electrical conductivity, and fast reaction kinetics, making it a promising
electrode material. Separately, defective RGO (DRGO) hydrogels are
prepared by a patterning process, and they exhibit a broad and uniform
distribution of mesopores, which is conducive to ion transport with
an excellent specific capacitance (223.52 F g–1 at
0.5 A g–1). A ZIC is subsequently constructed by
utilizing Ti3C2T
X
@PANI-RGO as the anode and DRGO as the cathode, which displays an
extensive operating voltage (0–3.0 V), prominent energy density
(1060.96 Wh kg–1 at 761.32 W kg–1, 439.87 Wh kg–1 at 9786.86 W kg–1), and durable cycle stability (retaining 67.9% of the original capacitance
after 4000 cycles at 6 A g–1). This study underscores
the immense prospect of the Ti3C2T
X
-based heterostructure hydrogel and DRGO as a feasible
anode and cathode for ZICs, respectively.