Conformal Conducting Polymer Shells on V2O5 Nanosheet Arrays as a High‐Rate and Stable Zinc‐Ion Battery Cathode

Abstract Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs) have become research focus because of their cost‐effectiveness, high safety, and eco‐friendliness. Unfortunately, sluggish Zn2+ diffusion kinetics and the poor cycling stability in cathode materials impede their large‐scale application. Herein, V2O5@poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) hybrid nanosheet arrays are uniformly deposited on carbon cloth (CC) as a superior ZIB cathode. The as‐fabricated V2O5@PEDOT/CC electrode displays a maximum capacity of 360 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. Meanwhile, this hybrid array electrode also shows high rate capability with a specific capacity of 232 mAh g−1 even at a large current density of 20 A g−1, and excellent cycling life (97% retention after 600 cycles at 1 A g−1 and 89% retention after 1000 cycles at 5 A g−1). The largely increased Zn‐storage performance of the V2O5@PEDOT nanosheet arrays results from the synergistic effects of the two components: the V2O5 nanosheet arrays provide enough Zn‐storage active sites, while the PEDOT coating shell increases zinc ion/electron transport kinetics and further acts as a protective layer to restrain structural collapse during cycling.