Engineering VOx structure by integrating oxygen vacancies for improved zinc-ion storage based on cation-doping regulation with electric density.

Abstract

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted enormous attention for future energy-storage devices owing to their high theoretical capacity and environmental friendliness. However, obtaining cathodes with a high specific capacity and fast reaction kinetics remains a huge challenge. Herein, Cu-VOx material with a thin sheet microsphere structure composed of nanoparticles was prepared by a simple hydrothermal reaction, which improved reaction kinetics and specific capacity. Pre-embedding Cu2+ into V2O5 to introduce abundant oxygen vacancies extended the interlayer distance to 1.16 nm, weakened the effect of the V-O bonds, and improved the electrical conductivity and structural stability. At the same time, the influence of different valence metal ions (M = K+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Sn4+, Nb5+, and W6+) pre-embedded in V2O5 was studied. Benefiting from a large interlayer spacing, high electrical conductivity, and excellent structural stability, the Cu-VOx electrode demonstrated a high specific capacity of 455.9 mA h g-1 at 0.1 A g-1. Importantly, when the current density was increased to 6 A g-1, the Cu-VOx electrode still achieved a high specific capacity of 178.8 mA h g-1 and maintained a high capacity retention of 76.5% over 2000 cycles.