V2O5 nanopaper as a cathode material with high capacity and long cycle life for rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion battery

Publication date: June 2019Source: Nano Energy, Volume 60Author(s): Yankai Li, Zhimei Huang, Pramod K. Kalambate, Yun Zhong, Zhaoming Huang, Meilan Xie, Yue Shen, Yunhui HuangAbstractAqueous batteries are suitable for large scale energy storage due to cost and safety concerns. Among all aqueous batteries, rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion battery is a promising choice because zinc electrode has low equilibrium potential, high exchange current density, and high hydrogen evolution overpotential. However, since zinc ion is a divalent cation, it is difficult to find a cathode material in which zinc ion can reversibly insert and extract. In this work, we introduce a novel V2O5 nanopaper consisting of V2O5 nanofibers and carbon nanotubes as reversible Zn-ion cathode. V2O5 has a layered crystalline structure. The spaces between the oxide layers may serve as 2-dimensional diffusion pathways for Zn ions. Meanwhile, the nanofiber morphology endows the material with short ionic diffusion distance and may tolerate high volume change. As a result, the V2O5 nanopaper cathode delivers a high capacity of 375 mAh g−1 and long cycle life up to 500 cycles.Graphical abstractA V2O5 nanopaper composed of V2O5 nanofibers and CNTs is applied as a flexible zinc-ion cathode material, which exhibits high stability and capacity. The synthesis is easy to scale up. It is potentially useful in the future for grid large-scale energy storage.

Source: Nano Energy - April 13, 2019 Category: Nanotechnology Source Type: research