Modulating the V10O24·12H2O nanosheets decorated with carbon for enhanced and durable zinc storage

Interlayer spacing, lateral sizes and thickness of V10O24·12H2O nanosheets decorated with carbon could be modulated simply by changing the hydrothermal temperatures without forming impure phases. Ultrathin preferentially oriented V10O24·12H2O nanosheets decoated with discontinuous carbon (denoted as P-V10O24@C) with large interplanar spacing (1.42 nm) and small sizes are synthesized through a facile hydrothermal reaction. Due to the large interplanar spacing, the ultrathin nature of the P-V10O24@C nanosheets (∼1.6 nm thick) and the small holes in the nanosheets, the as-prepared 3D networks of P-V10O24@C nanosheets display enhanced performance for zinc storage. By using the 3D P-V10O24@C as the cathode of zinc-ions batteries, the sample delivers superior capacities of 448.9 mA h g−1 and 175.6 mA h g−1 at current densities of 0.5 and 20 A g−1 respectively, much higher than the non-preferentially orientated V10O24·12H2O nanosheets decorated with carbon (denoted as NP- V10O24@C) with smaller interlayer distances and large sizes. The P-V10O24@C nanosheets display superior cycling stability, an 88.9 % capacity retention is obtained after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g−1. Besides, it provides a simple and scalable strategy to modulate the mixed valenced vanadium oxides nanosheets decorated with carbon for energy storage and conversion.