Carbon nanotubes intertwined porous vanadium oxide heterostructured microfibers as high-performance cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries

In this study, a facile template strategy to construct a novel composite cathode of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) intertwined with porous VO2-V2O5 heterostructured microfibers is proposed. Upon evaluation as a cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), the as-fabricated composite shows enhanced specific capacities of 435.4 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A/g and 167.5 mA h g−1 at 10 A/g. Moreover, a stable cyclic performance with a retention of 84 % after 1500 cycles at the current density of 10 A/g is achieved. Based on various characterizations, these remarkable enhancements can be ascribed to the porous, heterostructured, and high-conductive structure as well as the strong interaction between CNTs and VO2-V2O5 microfibers, which effectively facilitate the kinetics of activation/reaction and charge transfer by increasing the contact area of electrode/electrolyte, improving the conductivity, and providing more reaction sites. This work provides a facile and feasible approach for the development of high-performance V2O5 cathodes for ZIBs.