Boosted charge transfer in twinborn α-(Mn₂O₃-MnO₂) heterostructures: toward high-rate and ultralong-life zinc-ion batteries

Abstract

Aqueous ZIBs are one of the most promising next-generation rechargeable batteries because of the high capacity, high hydrogen evolution overpotential, and chemically stable reversible plating/stripping of the zinc electrode in the mild aqueous electrolyte. However, there are limited cathode materials that can store Zn²⁺ reversibly with superior cycling and rate capability. Herein, hierarchically porous nanorods composed of twinborn α-(Mn₂O₃–MnO₂) heterostructures are proposed as a robust cathode for Zn storage. Thanks to the hierarchically porous nanorod morphology and the abundant interface of the heterostructures involving a built-in electric field, the as-obtained twinborn α-(Mn₂O₃–MnO₂) electrode delivers a high capacity of 170 mA h g⁻¹ for 2000 cycles at 500 mA g⁻¹ and shows an excellent rate capability of up to 1.5 A g⁻¹ with a capacity of 124 mA h g⁻¹. The inspiring results achieved exhibit the enormous potential of the high-performance heterostructure cathode for fast and stable ZIBs.