Conformal Conducting Polymer Shells on V2O5 Nanosheet Arrays as a High‐Rate and Stable Zinc‐Ion Battery Cathode

Abstract Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs) have become research focus because of their cost‐effectiveness, high safety, and eco‐friendliness. Unfortunately, sluggish Zn 2+ diffusion kinetics and the poor cycling stability in cathode materials impede their large‐scale application. Herein, V 2 O 5 @poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) hybrid nanosheet arrays are uniformly deposited on carbon cloth (CC) as a superior ZIB cathode. The as‐fabricated V 2 O 5 @PEDOT/CC electrode displays a maximum capacity of 360 mAh g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 . Meanwhile, this hybrid array electrode also shows high rate capability with a specific capacity of 232 mAh g −1 even at a large current density of 20 A g −1 , and excellent cycling life (97% retention after 600 cycles at 1 A g −1 and 89% retention after 1000 cycles at 5 A g −1 ). The largely increased Zn‐storage performance of the V 2 O 5 @PEDOT nanosheet arrays results from the synergistic effects of the two components: the V 2 O 5 nanosheet arrays provide enough Zn‐storage active sites, while the PEDOT coating shell increases zinc ion/electron transport kinetics and further acts as a protective layer to restrain structural collapse during cycling.