Cathodic Products Research Articles

Tailoring Borate Mediator Species Enables Industrial COProduction with Improved Overall Energy Efficiency by Sustainable Molten Salt CO2 Electrolysis.

The electrochemical conversion of CO2 into CO represents a promising strategy for mitigating excessive global greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, achieving industrial-scale electrochemical CO2-to-CO conversion with enhanced selectivity and reduced energy consumption presents significant challenges. In this study, a borate-enhanced molten salt process for CO2 capture and electrochemical transformation is employed, achieving over 98% selectivity for CO and over 55% energy efficiency without the necessity for complex and costly electrocatalysts. Cathodic CO2 electro-reduction (CO2ER) with the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at an overall current density of 500mAcm-2 using non-nanostructured transition-metal plate electrodes at 650°C is coupled. By regulating the electrolyte's oxo-basicity with earth-abundant borax (Na2B4O7), a borate-enhanced electrolyte is established that accelerates the overall electrochemical reaction efficiently. This system involved a series of well-designed target borate species (BO3 3-, BO2 -, and B4O7 2-) that acted as mediators shuttling between the cathode and anode, favoring CO as the primary cathodic product. Manipulating the atmosphere above the anode facilitated a spontaneous transformation of borates, further enhancing OER performance with long-term operational stability over a cumulative period of 50h, while also reducing overall energy consumption. This work presents a cost-effective strategy for the industrial-scale production of CO derived from CO2, contributing to a lower carbon footprint by establishing a sustainable borate-mediated closed loop.

Investigating the environmental impacts of lithium-oxygen battery cathode production: A comprehensive assessment of the effects associated with oxygen cathode manufacturing

Lithium-oxygen batteries offer remarkably high energy density compared to current lithium-ion batteries. The key to their electrochemical performance lies in the processes occurring at the air cathode. However, the complexity of these reactions, coupled with the by-products generated during discharge, can make the reaction process slow or impede their efficiency. This study evaluates the environmental impact of high-efficiency lithium-oxygen batteries cathodes, including titanium oxide composites, graphene-based composites and activated carbon-based composites, through a life cycle assessment across 18 impact categories using a cradle-to-gate approach with a functional unit of 25 kWh. Results show that active material production was the largest contributor to environmental impact, particularly Global Warming Potential. Among the evaluated cathodes, reduced graphene oxide/α-mnaganese oxide/palladium (rGO/α-MnO2/Pd) demonstrated the highest environmental impact, with a global warming potential of 1130.71 kg carbon dioxide from active material production, due to its energy-intensive synthesis and the use of chemicals like sulfuric acid, sodium borohydride, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, the rGO/α-MnO2/Pd cathode had the highest Human Toxicity Potential and Ozone Depletion Potential. Batteries with graphene-based cathodes achieved a specific capacity of 7500 mAh.g-1, underscoring their performance potential while highlighting the need for more sustainable cathode manufacturing methods. These findings emphasize the environmental considerations necessary for large-scale lithium-oxygen batteries implementation.

Electroreforming of plastic wastes for value-added products.

The problem of plastic pollution is becoming increasingly serious, and there is an urgent need to reduce the use of plastics and to improve the recovery rate of plastic wastes. Plastic wastes can be transformed into value-added chemicals at the anode through electrocatalytic conversion, while coupling with cathodic reduction reactions to achieve cogeneration of valuable anodic and cathodic products. The plastic electroreforming technology has unprecedented advantages, including a green and decentralizable process, renewable energy storage, ecological benefits, resource recovery, cost-effectiveness, and so on. Herein, we present a mini review about recent advances in this topic. We first discuss the electrooxidation mechanisms of different plastic wastes (such as polylactic acid, polyethylene glycol terephthalate, polyethylene, polyethylene furanoate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polyamides). Then, the progress of plastic waste-assisted electrolysis systems is summarized, including plastic waste-assisted water splitting for hydrogen production and oxygen reduction, as well as plastic electroreforming coupled with CO2 reduction, and the nitrate reduction reaction. Finally, the development prospects and challenges in this field are introduced and discussed. This review aims to provide a concise overview of the emerging plastic electroreforming, thus offering insight on the design of efficient and stable plastic-assisted electrolysis systems.

Evaluation of flow and heat transfer behavior in parallel flow copper electro-refining cell with different inlet arrangements

Parallel flow copper electro-refining cell technology has been developed for over a decade, and the flow field in these cells is significantly influenced by the arrangement of the electrolyte inlets. Four computational fluid dynamics models were developed to compare the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the electrolyte under varying electrolyte inlet arrangements. These models include bi-directional parallel flow (BPF), staggered parallel flow (SPF), top inlet unidirectional parallel flow (UPF-T), and bottom inlet unidirectional parallel flow (UPF-B). Flow and heat transfer simulations were conducted for each model. The simulation results indicate that the BPF and SPF electro-refining cells exhibit varying degrees of kinetic energy loss, which leads to lower volume-weighted average velocities and impacts the rapid circulation of the electrolyte. The UPF-B is the most effective in terms of both flow uniformity and flow velocity, with the UPF-T following closely behind. The temperature in the inter-pole area is elevated when the SPF and UPF-T are arranged, which is more conducive to the diffusion of copper ions. The copper cathode production efficiency and deposition uniformity are enhanced by the UPF-B arrangement, which enables the liquid to be supplied to the inter-pole area more rapidly and uniformly.

North America’s Potential for an Environmentally Sustainable Nickel, Manganese, and Cobalt Battery Value Chain

The Detroit Big Three General Motors (GMs), Ford, and Stellantis predict that electric vehicle (EV) sales will comprise 40–50% of the annual vehicle sales by 2030. Among the key components of LIBs, the LiNixMnyCo1−x−yO2 cathode, which comprises nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC) in various stoichiometric ratios, is widely used in EV batteries. This review reveals NMC cathodes from laboratory research. Furthermore, this study examines the environmental effect of NMC cathode production for EV batteries (including coating technologies), encompassing aspects such as energy consumption, water usage, and air emissions. Although gaps persist in NMC cathode environmental assessments (NMC111, NMC532, NMC622, and NMC811), limited life cycle assessments “(LCA)” have been conducted. Most available data originate from Asia (primarily China), accounting for 85% of the production of EV LIB cathode materials. The concept of battery passports for data collection on LIB components has been proposed to facilitate material traceability as a system for ensuring a sustainable supply chain for critical minerals. The automotive industry’s shift to electrification necessitates a sustainable supply chain from mine to vehicle end-of-life. As the critical mineral supply moves from Asia to North America, environmentally friendly industrial methods must be studied to provide this supply chain direction.

Electrochemical upcycling of indium-gallium-zinc oxide scraps

At present, the processes of recovering indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) scraps through hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, or molten salt electro-deoxidation are cumbersome, impurities cannot well be effectively removed, and the environmental benefits are inferior. We herein firstly propose a facile electrochemical method for upcycling of IGZO scraps in ammonium salt aqueous solution at ambient temperature. The feasibility of electro-deoxidation of IGZO in aqueous solution has been verified, using IGZO scraps without further crushing as the cathode and anode. The electro-deoxidation behavior of various oxides exhibits differentiation, among which indium oxide is the most easily deoxidized. This difference hinders the formation of a dense alloy layer on the surface of the IGZO substrate, facilitating the transfer of oxygen ions and enabling continuous electro-deoxidation. Impurities such as aluminum and silicon can be significantly removed, with removal rates of 95.8 % and 75.7 %, respectively, which is also attributed to the difference in electrochemical reduction ability between impurity oxides and IGZO, as well as the solid-state existence of cathode products. The process of upcycling IGZO scraps contributes to recovery with straightforward operation and more adaptable implementation environment, which endows it with optimistic application potential.

Recycling valuable metals from spent cathode material by in-situ thermal reduction combined with electrochemical leaching

In-situ thermal reduction is a promising technology that realizes the reduction of high-valence metals in spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) through its reductive substances. However, the subsequent simple acid leaching cannot adapt to all thermal reduction products, especially elemental Ni and Co, resulting in low leaching efficiency and high acid consumption. In this work, in-situ thermal reduction combined with electrochemical-enhanced leaching technology was provided for extracting valuable metals from spent LIBs with minimum chemical consumption. Results show that after thermal reduction, the layered structure of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 was fully broken, yielding acid-soluble components including Ni, Co, NiO, CoO, MnO, Li2CO3, and LiAlO2, all achieved without external reductants. During the electrochemical leaching, the acidic solution produced by water electrolysis and electrochemical oxidation synergistically promoted the leaching of valuable metals, and finally, 99.02 % Li, 96.34 % Ni, 98.28 % Co and 99.24 % Mn were leached from the roasted cathode product. Compared with traditional acid leaching, the proposed electrochemical method has advantages in the dissolution of elemental Ni and Co. Moreover, the whole process does not consume any external acids or bases, and there is no emission of waste acid. The findings of this work help to reduce reagent consumption in the spent LIBs recycling process and provide an effective, adaptable, and green method for leaching thermal reduction products.

Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of cylindrical sulfide-based solid-state batteries

PurposeSolid-state batteries (SSBs) are a current research hotspot, as they are safer and have a higher energy density than state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). To date, their production only occurs on a laboratory scale, which provides a good opportunity to analyze the associated environmental impacts prior to industrialization. This paper investigates the environmental impacts of the production of cylindrical SSB, to identify environmental hotspots and optimization potentials.MethodsHere, an attributional cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed, focusing on SSBs that use a NMC811/lithium germanium phosphorous sulfide (LiGPS) composite cathode, a sulfide-based solid separator electrolyte, and a lithium metal anode. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is performed in Umberto 11 using the Environmental Footprint 3.1 method with primary and literature data and the Evoinvent 3.9 database for background data.Results and discussionThe results show climate change impacts of 205.43 kg CO2 eq./kwh (for the base case), with hotspots primarily attributable to the electrolyte and cathode production, and more specifically to the LiPS and LiGPS synthesis as well as to the cathode active material. Additionally, the scenario analysis shows that an upscaling of the LiPS and LiGPS synthesis reduces environmental impacts across all assessed impact categories. In addition, it was shown that the use of an in situ anode further improves the overall environmental performance, while the use of alternative cathode active materials, such as NMC622 and LFP did not lead to any improvements, at least with reference to the storage capacity.ConclusionThe article highlights the environmental hotspots of sulfide-based SSB production, namely electrolyte and catholyte synthesis. The results show that upscaling the synthesis reduces the environmental impact and that cells with higher energy density show a favorable environmental performance. However, SSBs are still in the development stage and no final recommendation can be made at this time.

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction in continuous-flow cell via water oxidation at ambient conditions: Promising for ammonia or diazene?

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) is recognized as an alternative green approach to the traditional energy-demanding and fossil-based catalytic processes (e.g. Haber Bosch). In this study, we implement eNRR in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer in which nitrogen (N2) is fed in the cathode. This operation mode has been suggested as a way to overcome mass transfer limitations, however, there is a lack of developed evaluation protocols for appropriate product identification. Herein, we exemplify the spirit of the evaluation protocols for gas phase operation at the device level with a combination of online product analysis and isotopic labeling. Our protocol involves control experiments by replacing the cathodic N2 feed with (i) inert gas (i.e. Ar) and (ii) isotopic labeled 15N2 and by replacing the anodic water feed with isotopic labeled D2O. Taking advantage of the gas phase operation in the cathode product analysis is realized with online techniques i.e. quadrupole mass-spectrometer (QMS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. This allows us to verify the production of diazene (N2H2) resulted from genuine N2 reduction, rather than from nitrogen-containing contaminants. Our methodology provides a pathway for how the false positive results can be eliminated in the gas phase study and a platform for follow-up studies using promising or exotic catalysts in the cathode, especially to validate the eNRR products or discover more products.

Closed-Loop Direct Upcycling of Spent Ni-Rich Layered Cathodes into High-Voltage Cathode Materials.

Facing the resource and environmental pressures brought by the retiring wave of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), direct recycling methods are considered to be the next generation's solution. However, the contradiction between limited battery life and the demand for rapidly iterating technology forces the direct recovery paradigm to shift toward "direct upcycling." Herein, a closed-loop direct upcycling strategy that converts waste current collector debris into dopants is proposed, and a highly inclusive eutectic molten salt system is utilized to repair structural defects in degraded polycrystalline LiNi0.83Co0.12Mn0.05O2 cathodes while achieving single-crystallization transformation and introducing Al/Cu dual-doping. Upcycled materials can effectively overcome the two key challenges at high voltages: strain accumulation and lattice oxygen evolution. It exhibits comprehensive electrochemical performance far superior to commercial materials at 4.6V, especially its fast charging capability at 15C, and an impressive 91.1% capacity retention after 200 cycles in a 1.2Ah pouch cell. Importantly, this approach demonstrates broad applicability to various spent layered cathodes, particularly showcasing its value in the recycling of mixed spent cathodes. This work effectively bridges the gap between waste management and material performance enhancement, offering a sustainable path for the recycling of spent LIBs and the production of next-generation high-voltage cathodes.

Efficient electrochemical advanced degradation of Red CL and Red WB dyes from the tanning industry using a boron-doped diamond anode

Electrochemical oxidation (EO), electro-Fenton (EF), and photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) with a BDD anode have been comparatively assessed to remediate solutions of Red CL and/or Red WB azo dyes from real raw water. For the EO process in 50 mM Na2SO4 at pH 3.0, the main oxidant was the heterogeneous •OH generated at the anode, whereas in EF and PEF, the cathodic production of H2O2 and the addition of 0.50 mM Fe2+ catalyst additionally originated homogeneous •OH that enhanced the oxidation of organics. In PEF, the solution was illuminated with a 6 W UVA light. An almost total discoloration was always found operating with a 1:1 mixture of 200 mg L−1 of both dyes in 60 min, whose efficiency increased in the order of EO < EF < PEF. The HPLC analysis of the dye mixture treated by PEF disclosed that its degradation process agreed with its discoloration. A high 74% of COD was reduced due to the oxidative action of hydroxyl radicals and the photolysis of final Fe(III)-carboxylate species with UVA irradiation. The process was accompanied by an energy consumption of 0.76 kWh (g COD)−1, a value similar to the energy consumed by the applied UVA light.

Recovery of neodymium and iron from NdFeB waste by combined electrochemical–hydrometallurgical process

The recovery of rare-earth elements and Fe from NdFeB waste has significant potential. However, conventional hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes are energy intensive, chemical consuming, and accompanied by waste emissions, resulting in low-value iron products. This study introduced a combined electrochemical–hydrometallurgical process for NdFeB waste recovery. Electrochemical analysis revealed the active dissolution of NdFeB waste under 370 mA/cm2, enabling Fe2+ reduction to Fe even in the presence of Nd3+. Electrolysis at 60 °C using Nd2(SO4)3 and FeSO4 as electrolytes, along with H3BO3 as a pH buffer, resulted in the uniform dissolution of waste, releasing Nd3+ and Fe2+ into the electrolyte, whereas Fe2+ underwent electrodeposition onto Fe at the cathode. Investigation of FeSO4 concentration revealed its influence on current efficiency, cathode-product properties, and energy consumption. When the concentration of FeSO4 was 0.5 M, a cathode product with 87.94 wt% Fe and 0.03 wt% Nd was obtained. Finally, Nd was recovered by hydrometallurgical high-temperature crystallization at 90 °C under N2 atmosphere, yielding Nd2(SO4)3·nH2O mixed crystals with 0.1 wt% Fe. The process formed a closed loop, consuming only FeSO4 and a minimal amount of H2SO4, with an energy consumption of 0.73–1.53 kW·h/kg NdFeB.

The development of China’s monopoly over cobalt battery materials

While previous resource conflicts have often been linked to fuel minerals such as oil, future resource conflict may revolve around nonfuel minerals that enable strategic emerging technologies. During a 2010 diplomatic dispute, China reportedly blocked exports of rare earth elements to Japan, thereby leveraging China’s near-monopoly to threaten Japanese manufacturers of advanced technologies including batteries and permanent magnets. Although this caused significant concern for manufacturers outside China, China’s control over other critical minerals has yet to be studied comprehensively. Besides rare earth elements, perhaps no mineral has received more attention for its supply risks than cobalt. Here Chinese control is estimated for each cobalt material at each stage of the cobalt supply chain from 2000 through 2022. The results show that from mining, to refining, consumption, recycling, stocks, and trade, China dominates the cobalt materials that feed lithium-ion battery cathode production. Specifically, the results show that in 2022 Chinese firms had control over 62% of cobalt mine materials primarily used for cobalt chemical refining, 95% control of refined commercial-grade cobalt chemicals, 92% control of battery-grade tricobalt tetroxide, 85% control of battery-grade cobalt sulfate, and 91% control of nickel–cobalt-manganese cathode precursor materials. China’s monopoly over cobalt battery materials may imply a serious supply risk to non-Chinese battery producing and consuming industries—especially given rising geopolitical tensions and the reemergence of critical mineral export restrictions including gallium for semiconductors, germanium for solar panels, graphite for lithium-ion batteries, and (again) rare earth elements.

Electrodeposition of Beta-Tantalum in Alkali Metal Halides and Oxohalide Melts

Data on the electrolytic preparation of β-Ta in halide and oxohalide melts were reported. It was shown that during electrolysis in halide melts containing K2TaF7, the amount β-Ta in the cathodic products can be markedly increased by using a copper cathode with a definite texture. It was found that in chloride-oxofluoride melts the β-Ta content increases monotonically on passing from NaCl to KCl and RbCl melt. The dependencies of the β-Ta content in cathodic products on the ratio of oxygen to tantalum concentrations were studied in chloride-oxofluoride and fluoride-oxofluoride melts. The maxima of these dependences were identified and explained. It was shown that β-Ta could be obtained by electrolysis in molten salts only at temperatures below 850 °C.

Electrodeposition of NdFeB films in DMI−LiNO3 ionic liquid analogs at room temperature

The feasibility and reaction mechanism of NdFeB film electrodeposition in 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI)−LiNO3 ionic liquid analogs at room temperature were investigated. Cyclic voltammetry indicated that the reduction peak at −1.83 V (vs Ag) was related to the reduction of Fe(II) to Fe, while the reduction peak at −2.01 V (vs Ag) was related to the reduction of B(III) to B. The electrochemical reduction reaction of Fe(II) and B(III) were irreversible processes controlled by diffusion, and the diffusion coefficients of Fe(II) and B(III) at 313 K were 3.03×10−6 and 6.74×10−7 cm2/s, respectively. In addition, XRD analysis suggested that the product obtained by the electrodeposition in DMI−LiNO3−Nd(CF3SO3)3−FeCl2−H3BO3 ionic liquid analogs for 2 h on the Al substrate contained NdFe3B3. SEM and EDS analysis showed that Nd, Fe, and B in the cathode product were uniformly distributed. XPS analysis revealed that the mass fractions of Nd, Fe, and B on the W substrate were 27.44%, 27.90%, and 7.51%, respectively.

Combined anodic and cathodic peroxide production in an undivided carbonate/bicarbonate electrolyte with 144% combined current efficiency

In recent years, the electrochemical synthesis of peroxides has attracted renewed interest as a potential environmentally friendly production compared to the established anthraquinone process. In addition, it is possible to produce the peroxides directly on site, eliminating the need for expensive and hazardous transportation and storage. Cathodic production of hydrogen peroxide from oxygen is already quite well developed. Anodic production from water, on the other hand, is still facing significant challenges, despite its historic pioneering role. In this manuscript we show that anodic and cathodic synthesis of peroxides can even be combined to achieve greater than 100% current efficiency (CE) due to the combined effect of both half-reactions. So far, similar devices have always employed different electrolytes for each, which necessitated the use of a membrane and posed contamination risk. However, herein we show that both half-reactions can also employ the same electrolyte. This enables even an undivided cell, omitting the need for the expensive membranes. Despite its simplicity, this setup yielded an outstanding performance with a combined CE of 144%.

Recyclable Fluorine‐Free Water‐Borne Binders for High‐Energy Lithium‐Ion Battery Cathodes

AbstractThe rapidly increasing demand for lithium‐ion batteries and the fight against climate change call for novel materials that enhance performance, enable eco‐friendly processing, and are designed for efficient recycling. In lithium‐ion batteries, the binder polymer, used for cathode production, constitutes an integral but often overlooked component. The currently used polyvinylidene fluoride is processed with toxic organic solvents and has numerous other disadvantages concerning adhesion, conductivity, and recyclability. A change to aqueous processing using new, multi‐functional, purpose‐built materials that are soluble in water and fluorine‐free would thus constitute an important advance in the battery sector. Herein, four water‐soluble surfactant‐like polymers based on 11‐aminoundecanoic acid, that can be obtained in high purity and at a multigram scale are described. Free radical polymerization allows modification of the polymer with a wide variety of comonomers. The materials presented significantly enhance adhesion, are thermally stable at temperatures up to 350 °C, and are compatible with state‐of‐the‐art high‐energy LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC 622) cathode materials. It is also shown new recycling pathways made possible by the reversible pH‐dependent water‐solubility of the materials.

Life cycle assessment of lithium-sulfur batteries with carbon nanotube hosts: Insights from lab experiments

Lithium‑sulfur (Li-S) batteries are candidates for next-generation batteries. It can be produced sustainably using sulfur instead of controversial cathode minerals like cobalt. However, Li-S batteries must improve their energy density and cycle life at their current state of development. Hosting the sulfur on carbon nanotubes (CNT) is a potential solution. This study investigated the environmental performance of a CNT-based Li-S battery based on original experiment data. The CNT in the batteries functioned as binders, conductive fillers, and current collectors, reducing auxiliary materials and simplifying manufacturing processes. We conducted a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) to clarify the environmental performance. We showed that the global warming potential (GWP) of the Li-S battery pack in a conventional battery structure was 105 kg CO2e/kWh. By partially substituting current collectors, increasing lithium anode efficiency, and reducing solvent usage, we could achieve 87, 82, and 78 kg CO2e, respectively. The lowest GWP of Li-S battery was 20 % lower when compared to a graphite‑nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC) battery. In addition, the other environmental indicators, including human toxicity, ecotoxicity, and acidification, were 26 % to 79 % lower, showing no major environmental burden shift. One exception was the mineral resource depletion, which was 2 % higher because lithium metal, instead of synthetic graphite, was used as a high-capacity anode pair. This study also found that modifying the cathode production process by using a less energy-intensive filtration before evaporating the remaining solvent could significantly reduce the energy required, thus mitigating the previously identified environmental hotspot. Our finding highlighted that a prospective LCA collaborating with battery experimentalists could lead to novel discoveries for environmentally sustainable battery production. Overall, we showed that Li-S batteries are environmentally preferred at the production stage, as supported by advanced experiments. Further research into improving the cycle life of Li-S batteries is crucial when considering the use stage to reduce the environmental impact per functional unit of energy delivered over the battery lifetime.

Effect of the pressure on the cathodic production of H2O2 and on electro-Fenton in undivided and divided cells

The key step for both the electrochemical H2O2 production and the electro-Fenton (EF) process is the cathodic reduction of O2 which is adversely affected by the low oxygen solubility in water contacted at atmospheric pressure of air. In this work, we studied the effect of current density and air pressure on the H2O2 production and on the EF process using both a divided and an undivided cell. It was shown that the use of pressures between 5 and 15 bar allows to enhance drastically the H2O2 production in both undivided and divided cells and that the best results were achieved in the presence of the separator. Moreover, the coupled use of pressurized air and divided cells made it possible to accelerate the organics removal achieved by the EF process. Eventually, the advantages given by the utilization of divided and undivided cells and of pressurized air were analyzed from both technical and economic points of view.

Scalable and economical production of oxygen deficient vanadium oxide with tunable vacancies concentration for bendable zinc ion batteries

Although vanadium oxides have high theoretical capacity and low cost, their practical application in aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) is bottlenecked by sluggish diffusion kinetics and capacity decline. Herein, the oxygen-deficient V2O5-x·nH2O (defined as VOd) with tunable oxygen vacancy concentration has been obtained via an economic and scalable method. The introduction of oxygen vacancies not only provides extra sites for Zn2+ storage, but also reduces the electrostatic barrier for Zn2+ intercalation, resulting in enhanced capacity and cycling stability. As a result, VOd cathode with proper amount of oxygen defect exhibits a high capacity of 415 mAh g−1 and energy density of 294 Wh kg−1 at 0.2 A g−1, estimating a roughly chemical costs of $64/kWH for VOd cathode. Besides, the VOd exhibits excellent stability at 20 A g−1 with average capacity decay of 0.004 % per cycle for 5000 cycles. Moreover, the bendable quasi-solid VOd//Zn battery maintains stable capacity of 200 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 even when repeatedly bending to straight angles. Therefore, the economical production of VOd cathode and construction of bendable quasi-solid battery provides a feasible way to boost the construction of efficient flexible energy storage devices and broadened application of AZIBs.