Manganese-based cathode materials for aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries: recent advance and future prospects

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), which use mild aqueous electrolyte, have attracted increasing attention, due to their unique advantages such as low cost, high safety, environmental friendliness, and ease of manufacture. At present, developing a kind of cathode materials with stable structures and large capacities for ZIBs is a hot research topic. Among all ZIBs cathode materials, manganese-based cathode materials have the advantages of low cost, abundant reserves, low toxicity, rich valence states, and high zinc storage capacity, which make them one of the most promising candidates. In recent years, manganese-based composites with different crystal structures have been extensively studied as cathode materials of ZIBs. In this paper, the reaction mechanism of ZIBs cathodes is discussed in detail, and the challenges faced by manganese-based cathode materials and the latest research progress are examined deeply. In addition, a number of optimization strategies aimed at improving the electrochemical performance of the cathode of ZIBs are outlined. Finally, the future prospect of ZIBs is presented.