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Manganese oxides with high theoretical capacity and natural abundance are promising cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), yet their intrinsic Jahn–Teller distortion and the strong Zn2+–cathode electrostatic interactions tend to trigger rapid capacity degradation and inferior rate performance. Herein, we propose a high-electronegativity substitution doping strategy to enhance the electrochemical kinetics and stability of manganese oxide cathodes. Manganese oxide materials doped by a trace amount of high-electronegativity Ru atoms are synthesized, for which the Ru dopant substituting Mn atoms not only improves the electronic conductivity of manganese oxides but also induces the compression of MnO6 octahedra to strengthen the Mn–O bonds, effectively improving ion diffusion capability and mitigating Jahn–Teller distortion-associated lattice expansion during the Zn2+ storage process to improve the electrochemical kinetics and stability of the high-electronegativity Ru-doped manganese oxides. As a result, the synthesized Ru-doped MnO2 cathode possessing a high specific capacity of 230 mAh/g presents good rate performance and attractive cycling stability with a stable average output voltage of 1.34 V and an energy efficiency of over 84%, notably superior to those of currently reported manganese oxide cathode materials. This work provides new insights for designing stable Zn2+ storage cathode materials and is believed to promote the development of ZIBs.
Xu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.