Zahra S. Bayhan
Ph.D. Candidate supervised by Prof. Husam Alshareef

Zoom Link: https://kaust.zoom.us/j/98608623486 

ABSTRACT: The increased deployment of renewable energy sources to mitigate the climate crisis has accelerated the need to develop efficient energy storage devices. Batteries are at the top of the list of the most in-demand devices in the current decade. Nowadays, research is in full swing to develop a battery that meets the needs of today’s renewable energy systems, which are intermittent by nature. Within the framework of improving the performance of batteries, there are parameters in the composition of the battery that plays an important role in its performance: electrode materials, electrolytes, separators, and other factors. The key to battery development is manufacturing electrode materials with optimal properties. Two-dimensional (2D) materials have led to advances in this field, firstly, using graphite as the anode in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, when using the standard graphite as the anode for sodium-ion batteries (NIBs), the large ionic size and energetic instability of Na⁺ limit intercalation, resulting in a low storage capacity. Therefore, other 2D materials with large interlayer spacing need to be identified for use as electrodes. 

In this dissertation, our approach is focused on optimizing anode electrode materials by in situ conversion of 2D materials to obtain hybrid materials. These hybrid materials will synergistically improve the performance of LIBs and NIBs by combining the advantages of individual 2D materials. Starting with converted Ti_0.87O₂ nanosheets to the TiO₂/TiS₂ hybrid nanosheets. Then, taking advantage of the properties of MXene, we developed hybrid electrodes based on MXenes by converting V₂CT_x MXene into V₂S₃@C@V₂S₃ heterostructures. Finally, we boosted the redox kinetics and cycling stability of Mo₂CT_x MXene by using a laser scribing process to construct a multiple-scale Mo₂CT_x/Mo₂C-carbon (LS-Mo₂CT_x) hybrid material.