Boosting Material Utilization via Direct Growth of Zn2(V3O8)2 on the Carbon Cloth as a Cathode to Achieve a High-Capacity Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery

Abstract

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have attracted the attention of researchers because of their high theoretical capacity and safety. Among the many vanadium-based AZIB cathode materials, zinc vanadate is of great interest as a typical phase in the dis-/charge process. Here, a remarkable method to improve the utilization rate of zinc vanadate cathode materials is reported. In situ growth of Zn2(V3O8)2 on carbon cloth (CC) as the cathode material (ZVO@CC) of AZIBs. Compared with the Zn2(V3O8)2 cathode material bonded on titanium foil (ZVO@Ti), the specific capacity increases from 300 to 420 mAh g−1, and the utilization rate of the material increases from 69.60% to 99.2%. After the flexible device is prepared, it shows the appropriate specific capacity (268.4 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1) and high safety. The method proposed in this work improves the material utilization rate and enhances the energy density of AZIB and also has a certain reference for the other electrochemical energy storage devices.