Jiang Yuchen, Wang Yan, Yang Ruixuan, Chen Kang, Han Haoying, Wei Renfei, Xie Kefeng, Wang Xianbao, Huang Liang
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-constructed by the Province and Ministry, School of New Energy and Electrical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, P. R. China.
Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, P. R. China.
Small Methods. 2025 Aug;9(8):e2500272. doi: 10.1002/smtd.202500272. Epub 2025 Apr 24.
High-power energy storage devices rely on the synergistic coordination of ion and electron transport. Here, an extra-layer channels engineering strategy is presented for developing high power and energy density cathode materials for aqueous zinc batteries (AZIBs). This approach utilizes a cation-induced self-assembly process to form conductive hydrogels with extra-layer channels by adding diverse cations (Li, Na, K, Mg, Zn, Al, and NH ) into the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) ink dispersed hydrated VO (h-VO) nanowires. The cations bridge h-VO nanowires and create self-assembly network on the CNT surfaces, providing extra-layer ion channels beyond the intrinsic interlayer of h-VO. These external channels exhibit distinct properties depending on the cations, significantly influencing the performance of VO hydrogel cathode for AZIBs. Larger cations reduce Zn migration resistance enhancing diffusion kinetics; smaller cations strengthen the M─O bond, improving structural stability. For instance, K-VO/CNT demonstrates an initial specific capacity of up to 618 mAh g at 0.2 A g and retains a capacity of 248 mAh g even at 20 A g. In contrast, the Zn-VO/CNT maintains excellent cycling stability, with 230 mAh g after 700 cycles at 1 A g. This offers a versatile platform for tailoring ion transport channels in hydrogel cathodes for ZIBs.
高功率储能设备依赖于离子和电子传输的协同协调。在此，提出了一种额外层通道工程策略，用于开发水系锌电池（AZIBs）的高功率和高能量密度阴极材料。该方法利用阳离子诱导的自组装过程，通过向分散有水合VO（h-VO）纳米线的碳纳米管（CNT）油墨中添加多种阳离子（Li、Na、K、Mg、Zn、Al和NH）来形成具有额外层通道的导电水凝胶。阳离子桥接h-VO纳米线并在CNT表面形成自组装网络，提供超出h-VO固有层间的额外层离子通道。这些外部通道根据阳离子表现出不同的特性，显著影响AZIBs的VO水凝胶阴极的性能。较大的阳离子降低了锌迁移阻力，增强了扩散动力学；较小的阳离子加强了M─O键，提高了结构稳定性。例如，K-VO/CNT在0.2 A g时的初始比容量高达618 mAh g，即使在20 A g时仍保持248 mAh g的容量。相比之下，Zn-VO/CNT保持了优异的循环稳定性，在1 A g下循环700次后容量为230 mAh g。这为定制用于ZIBs的水凝胶阴极中的离子传输通道提供了一个通用平台。
