Fast and furious: New class of 2-D materials stores electrical energy

Like a battery, MXenes can store large amounts of electrical energy through electrochemical reactions—but unlike batteries, can be charged and discharged in a matter of seconds. In collaboration with Drexel University, a team at HZB showed that the intercalation of urea molecules between MXene layers can increase the capacity of such 'pseudo-capacitors' by more than 50 percent. At BESSY II they have analysed how changes of MXene surface chemistry after urea intercalation are responsible for this.