Tuning the layer structure of molybdenum trioxide towards high-performance aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted significant attentions because of low cost and high reli-ability. However, conventional ZIBs are severely limited by the development of high energy density cath-ode materials with reversible Zn2 + insertion/extraction. Herein, a conducting polymer intercalated MoO3 (PMO) with extensively extended interlayer spacing is developed as a high-performance ZIBs cathode material. The interlayer spacing of PMO is prominently increased which results in an improved Zn2 + mo-bility during charge and discharge process. More significantly, the electrochemical results reveals that the intercalation of PANI facilitates the charge storage and reinforces the layered structure of MoO3, leading to a high capacity and good cycling stability. DFT calculation further reveals the intercalation of PANI into MoO3 significantly lower Zn2 + diffusion barrier. Benefit from these advantages, the ZIBs based on PMO electrode delivers a considerable capacity of 157 mAh/g at 0.5 A/g and ameliorative stability with 63.4% capacity retention after 10 0 0 cycles.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.