MXene carbon nanofiber-coated V₂O₃ hollow nanospheres as a free-standing flexible anode for lithium-ion batteries

V₂O₃ has emerged as a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacity (1073 mAh g⁻¹), abundant resources, and low toxicity. However, its practical application is severely hindered by rapid capacity decay caused by significant volume expansion during cycling and poor intrinsic electrical conductivity. Herein, we propose a novel strategy to construct a free-standing flexible electrode with a "0D@2D/1D" pearl-chain-like architecture (denoted as V₂O₃@MXene/CNFs) by integrating two-dimensional MXene (Ti₃C₂Tₓ) nanosheets with hollow V₂O₃ nanospheres via electrospinning. This design achieves triple synergistic effects to overcome existing limitations: 1) The MXene coating on hollow V₂O₃ nanospheres establishes efficient electron transport pathways while mitigating structural pulverization induced by volume changes; 2) The electrospinning process simultaneously suppresses restacking of MXene nanosheets and aggregation of V₂O₃ nanospheres, forming a three-dimensional interconnected conductive network; 3) The carbon nanofiber framework enhances mechanical robustness.The V₂O₃@MXene/CNFs anode delivers excellent electrochemical performance, including a capacity of 504.37 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹ for 130 cycles and long cycle life (72.25 mAh g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹ after 2000 cycles). The flexibility is assessed by assembling a pouch cell and folding it at various angles. The results reveal a new strategy to design flexible electrodes with a long cycling lifetime. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd