Mn as the "spearhead" preventing the trap of Zn in layered Mn inserted hydrated vanadium pentoxide enables high rate capacity.

Vanadium oxides attract much attention and are concerned as one of the most promising cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) owing to the layered structures. However, their intensive development is limited by the fragile structures and laggard ion-transferring. Herein, Mn inserted hydrated vanadium pentoxide nanobelts/reduced graphene oxide (MnVO·nHO/rGO, abbreviated as MnVOH/rGO) was prepared by a simple one-pot hydrothermal process, delivering excellent electrochemical properties for AZIBs. The Zn//MnVOH/rGO cell operates well even at changing current densities over 45 cycles, behaving 361 mAh·g at 0.1 A·g, 323 mAh·g as the current density gradually increasing to 2 A·g and 350 mAh·g when gradually back to 0.1 A·g (∼97% of initial capacity). Such a superb cycling and rate performance is ascribed to the unique stable structure with the compact electrostatic attraction between Mn and VO·nHO (VOH) laminate. On the one hand, Mn generates electrostatic network with [VO] polyhedrons and suppresses the following electrostatic trap for the moving Zn. On the other hand, rGO improves the conductivity, endowing the high capacity and energy density. The performance of the MnVOH/rGO cathode exceeds most of vanadium-based cathodes applying in AZIBs and paves the way to the ideal energy storage system.