Multiple Cations Nanoconfinement in Ultrathin V2O5 Nanosheets Enables Ultrafast Ion Diffusion Kinetics Toward High‐performance Zinc Ion Battery

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2024-05, Vol.36 (18), p.e2312982-n/a
• Main Authors: Liu, Yang, Lu, Chengjie, Yang, Yunting, Chen, Wenshu, Ye, Fei, Dong, Hongliang, Wu, Yuping, Ma, Renzhi, Hu, Linfeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aqueous zinc‐ion battery; Calcium ions; Cathodes; Cations; Confinement; Diffusion coefficient; Ion diffusion; ion diffusion kinetic; Ion storage; Kinetics; multiple cations; nanoconfinement; Nanosheets; Rechargeable batteries; Self-assembly; Sodium; Solid phases; Structural stability; supramolecular assembly; Vanadium pentoxide
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202312982

Nanoconfinement of cations in layered oxide cathode is an important approach to realize advanced zinc ion storage performance. However, thus far, the conventional hydrothermal/solvothermal route for this nanoconfinement has been restricted to its uncontrollable phase structure and the difficulty on the multiple cation co‐confinement simultaneously. Herein, this work reports a general, supramolecular self‐assembly of ultrathin V2O5 nanosheets using various unitary cations including Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Al3+, NH4+, and multiple cations (NH4+ + Na+, NH4+ + Na+ + Ca2+, NH4+ + Na+ + Ca2+ +Mg2+). The unitary cation confinement results in a remarkable increase in the specific capacity and Zn‐ion diffusion kinetics, and the multiple cation confinement gives rise to superior structural and cycling stability by multiple cation synergetic pillaring effect. The optimized diffusion coefficient of Zn‐ion (7.5 × 10−8 cm2 s−1) in this assembly series surpasses most of the V‐based cathodes reported up to date. The work develops a novel multiple‐cations nanoconfinement strategy toward high‐performance cathode for aqueous battery. It also provides new insights into the guest cation regulation of zinc‐ion diffusion kinetics through a general, supramolecular assembly pathway. A general, supramolecular self‐assembly strategy is developed to intercalate unitary cation including NH4+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Al3+ and multiple cations (NH4+ + Na+, NH4+ + Na+ + Ca2+, NH4+ + Na+ + Ca2+ + Mg2+) in ultrathin V2O5 nanosheets. The success on multiple cations nanoconfinement enables very fast zinc ion diffusion kinetics and excellent long‐term cycling stability. The optimized diffusion coefficient of zinc ion (7.5 × 10−8 cm2 s−1) in this assembly series surpasses most of the V‐based cathodes reported up to date.