Recent advances of vanadium-based cathodes toward aqueous Zn-ion batteries

Benefiting from the advantageous features of low manufacturing cost, inherent safety and resource renewability, aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) are considered as one of the most promising candidates for energy storage systems. Unfortunately, problems of AZIBs such as cathode dissolution, Zn dendrite growth, and irreversible electrochemical side reactions have restricted the implementation for practical applications. Vanadium-based are deemed as hopeful cathode materials for AZIBs owing to diverse crystal structures and multiple valence states. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively summarize the advance facing vanadium-based cathodes and the corresponding progress to create roadmaps for the development of high-stability AZIBs. This review starts with a discussion of the storage and failure mechanisms of AZIBs and their related affects. Then, enormous up-to-date achievements of vanadium-based cathode materials are highlighted, including vanadium-based oxides and metal vanadium-based oxides. The challenges associated with the application of vanadium-based compounds in AZIBs are also highlighted, and effective strategies to overcome them are proposed. Finally, perspectives and directions on further optimizing vanadium-based cathode materials to improve the performance of AZIBs are discussed.