Breaking the trade-off between kinetics and stability in vanadium oxides for stable aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are attractive candidates for large-scale energy storage because of their cost-effectiveness, environmental friendliness, and high safety. Nonetheless, the bottleneck of most cathode materials for AZIBs is the trade-off between structural stability and ion intercalation kinetics, hindering their cycling life and rate performance. Here, this trade-off is broken by preparing porous V₂O₅ (M-V₂O₅), which is derived from the metal-organic framework. The nanoscale V₂O₅ cubic porous material with superior specific surface area can provide abundant active sites and unique channels to ensure fast reaction kinetics and improve cycle stability. As a result, by employing the M-V₂O₅ cathode, the AZIBs exhibit enhanced rate capability and cycling performance. Specifically, the battery exhibits superior rate performance (467 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1) and high capacity retention (84% after 4000 cycles at 5 A g^-1), surpassing those of most reported vanadium-based cathode materials. Our strategy offers a fresh way to unlock the full potential of vanadium oxide cathode materials.