A rechargeable Zn-ion battery is a promising aqueous system, where coinsertion of Zn2+ and H+ could address the obstacles of the sluggish ionic transport in cathode materials imposed by multivalent battery chemistry. However, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of this dual-ion transport, especially the potentiodynamics of the storage process. Here, a quantitative analysis of Zn2+ and H+ transport in a disordered sodium vanadate (NaV3O8) cathode material has been reported. Collectively, synchrotron X-ray analysis shows that both Zn2+ and H+ storages follow an intercalation storage mechanism in NaV3O8 and proceed in a sequential manner, where intercalations of 0.26 Zn2+ followed by 0.24 H+ per vanadium atom occur during discharging, while reverse dynamics happens during charging. Such a unique and synergistic dual-ion sequential storage favors a high capacity (265 mA h g-1) and an energy density (221 W h kg-1) based on the NaV3O8 cathode and a great cycling life (a capacity retention of 78% after 2000 cycles) in Zn/NaV3O8 full cells.
Keywords: aqueous battery; proton storage; sequential intercalation; synchrotron X-ray analysis; zinc storage.