Hydrothermal reaction induced phase transition of vanadium oxide towards high-performance zinc ion batteries cathode

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) are widely researched due to the low-cost and intrinsic safety. However, the rate capability and specific capacity of ZIBs is limited due to the dissolution and structural collapse of cathode materials. It is crucial to construct stable cathode materials to promote rate capability and cycle stability of ZIBs. In this paper, The V3O7 was tightly attached to the surface of graphene oxide (GO) by a hydrothermal reaction and a V3O7/GO heterostructure was successfully achieved. The GO could increase structural stability, enhance electrical conductivity, and expand specific surface area of V3O7. Therefore, the V3O7/GO with a heterostructure exhibits an improved cycle stability and rate capability compared with V3O7. It displayed a specific capacity of 275.6 mA h g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1. The study paves the way for promoting the Zn2+ storage performance of vanadium oxide and developing stable cathode materials of ZIBs.