General Carbon Modification Avenue to Construct Highly Stable V2O5 Electrodes for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries possess enormous application prospects in energy storage devices due to their abundant zinc resources and intrinsic safety characteristics. However, there are still many significant challenges in developing suitable cathode materials that match with the anodes. In this work, we design carbon-coated V2O5 microspheres by a chitosan-assisted route. The amorphous carbon layer can efficiently enhance the electrical conductivity of active materials, thereby improving the electrochemical performance. The as-assembled Zn/V2O5@0.25C batteries achieve a specific capacity of 532.4 mAh g–1 at 0.2 A g–1 with an energy density of 354.9 Wh kg–1. They show long-term cycling stability with a retention rate of 86% after 3000 cycles at 5 A g–1.