Featuring low manufacturing costs and excellent operational safety, aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are regarded as one of the most competitive candidates in the energy storage field. Yet cathode materials with slow ion transport kinetics or low ion storage capacity limit the electrochemical performance to be fully utilized in practical applications. Herein, an advanced organic-inorganic hybrid cathode material with amorphous state was developed, in which nanosized inorganic polyoxovanadate, K 5 MnV 11 O 32 ·10H 2 O (MVO), interacted with organic polyaniline (PANI) by electrostatic interaction presents weak element dissolution and high redox activity. Combining multiple experimental characterizations, it was confirmed that this novel cathode (P-MVO) exhibited Zn 2+ /H + dual carriers insertion mechanism. The as-prepared cathode yields a high specific capacity of 412 mAh g −1 at 0.3 A g −1 , and it preserves a 286 mAh g −1 capacity even at 5 A g −1 . Moreover, Zn//P-MVO batteries exhibit better electrochemical stability at a wide temperature range. This work enriches the organic-inorganic hybrid chemistry and provides a promising strategy for developing organic-inorganic hybrid cathode materials targeting AZIBs.
Wang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.