Open-Framework Metal Oxides for Fast and Reversible Hydrated Zinc-Ion Intercalation

The development of high capacity and stable cathodes is the key to the successful commercialization of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. However, significant solvation penalties limit the choice of available positive electrodes. Herein, hydrated intercalation is proposed to promote reversible (de)intercalation within host materials by rationally designing a matching electrode. In contrast to previously reported works, the as-prepared electrode (NHVO@CC) can achieve fast and reversible intercalation of hydrated zinc ions in the interlayer gap, leading to a high capacity of 517 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 and excellent electrode stability for long-term cycling. Besides, as a consequence of the flexibility of the NHVO@CC electrode, a quasi-solid-state battery was achieved with equally advantageous electrochemical behavior under various bending states. The proposed hydrated cation direct insertion/extraction sets up an efficient way of developing high-performance positive electrodes for aqueous batteries.