The Current Developments and Perspectives of V₂O₅ as Cathode for Rechargeable Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

In recent years, zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs) with near neutral (pH ≈ 4–6) Zn 2+ ‐containing aqueous electrolyte have received extensive research due to their advantages of high safety, low production cost, suitable anode zinc, and environmental friendliness, etc. At present, one of the key challenges of aqueous ZIBs is the development of cathode materials with stable structure, rapid kinetics, and high capacity, etc. Compared with other cathode materials, V 2 O 5 has an important potential application because of its high theoretical specific capacity (589 mA h g −1 ) based on two electron transfers, relatively low production cost, and suitable layered structure that facilitates zinc ion insertion/extraction. Herein, the following sections are proposed: 1) An understanding of the structure and energy storage mechanism of V 2 O 5 ; 2) The recent development on the aqueous Zn/V 2 O 5 battery from properties of V 2 O 5 cathode and composition optimization of battery structure; 3) The application of V 2 O 5 cathode in flexible ZIBs; and 4) The outlook and development trends in the future.