Charged organic ligands inserting/supporting the nanolayer spacing of vanadium oxides for high-stability/efficiency zinc ion batteries

ABSTRACT Given their high safety, environmental friendliness and low cost, aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have the potential for high-performance energy storage. However, issues with the structural stability and electrochemical kinetics during discharge/charge limit the development of AZIBs. In this study, vanadium oxide electrodes with organic molecular intercalation were designed based on intercalating 11 kinds of charged organic carboxylic acid ligands between 2D layers to regulate the interlayer spacing. The negatively charged carboxylic acid group can neutralize Zn2+, reduce electrostatic repulsion and enhance electrochemical kinetics. The intercalated organic molecules increased the interlayer spacing. Among them, the 0.028EDTA · 0.28NH4+ · V2O5 · 0.069H2O was employed as the cathode with a high specific capacity (464.6 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1) and excellent rate performance (324.4 mAh g−1 at 10 A g−1). Even at a current density of 20 A g−1, the specific capacity after 2000 charge/discharge cycles was 215.2 mAh g−1 (capacity retention of 78%). The results of this study demonstrate that modulation of the electrostatic repulsion and interlayer spacing through the intercalation of organic ligands can enhance the properties of vanadium-based materials.