In situ construction of ball-in-ball structured porous vanadium pentoxide intertwined with carbon fibers induces superior electronic/ionic transport dynamics for aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Li Xiong; Zilin Qu; Zongyou Shen; Guanghui Yuan; Gang Wang; Beibei Wang; Hui Wang; Jintao Bai

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.01.155

In situ construction of ball-in-ball structured porous vanadium pentoxide intertwined with carbon fibers induces superior electronic/ionic transport dynamics for aqueous zinc-ion batteries

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2022 Jun:615:184-195. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.01.155. Epub 2022 Jan 29.

Authors

Li Xiong¹, Zilin Qu², Zongyou Shen¹, Guanghui Yuan³, Gang Wang⁴, Beibei Wang⁵, Hui Wang⁶, Jintao Bai¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Photon-Technology in Western China Energy, International Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics & Photon-Technology, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, PR China; Shaanxi Joint Lab of Graphene (NWU), Xi'an 710127, PR China.
² Institute of Modern Physics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Theoretical Physics Frontiers, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, PR China.
³ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ankang University, Ankang 725000, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Photon-Technology in Western China Energy, International Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics & Photon-Technology, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, PR China; Shaanxi Joint Lab of Graphene (NWU), Xi'an 710127, PR China. Electronic address: gangwang@nwu.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Photon-Technology in Western China Energy, International Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics & Photon-Technology, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, PR China; Shaanxi Joint Lab of Graphene (NWU), Xi'an 710127, PR China. Electronic address: beibeiwang@nwu.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry & Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, PR China; Shaanxi Joint Lab of Graphene (NWU), Xi'an 710127, PR China.

PMID: 35131500
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.01.155

Abstract

Hypothesis: Using V₂O₅ as an aqueous zinc-ion battery (ZIB) cathode has major drawbacks, including inferior electrode/electrolyte contact interfaces, morphological and structural deterioration, and unsatisfactory conductivity. Purposeful construction of ball-in-ball structured V₂O₅ with porous and void architectures wrapped with carbon fibers is expected to overcome the drawbacks, thus bringing the electrochemical performance of V₂O₅ into full play.

Experiments: In situ construction of ball-in-ball structured porous V₂O₅ wrapped by intertwined carbon fibers (V₂O₅@void@V₂O₅@CFs) is implemented through a simple combined hydrothermal and calcination route. A combination of in/ex situ analytical methods and density functional theoretical calculations are performed to clarify the energy storage mechanism of the material for aqueous ZIBs.

Findings: The reversible reaction to generate Zn_xV₂O₅·nH₂O executes during the zinc ion insertion/extraction procedure in V₂O₅@void@V₂O₅@CFs. Benefitting from the synergistic effect of the porous ball-in-ball structure with void space and the wrapped CFs, the material exhibits boosted specific capacity (455 mAh g^-1 after 100 cycles and 149 mAh g^-1 after 2000 cycles at 4 and 25 A g^-1, respectively), cyclic stability, rate ability and energy density (355 Wh kg^-1 at 739 W kg^-1) when used for aqueous ZIBs due to improved capacitive contribution, fast zinc ion transport dynamics, and enhanced conductivity.

Keywords: Aqueous zinc-ion batteries; Ball-in-ball; In situ construction; Vanadium pentoxide; Void space.