Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries are considered as a promising alternative of lithium-ion batteries for stationary energy storage because of their economical and high safety quality. However, their widespread application is still impeded by the development of cathode materials with poor energy density and limited long-term stability. Herein, we report a high-performance CuV 2 O 6 cathode material for aqueous zinc-ion batteries and elucidate the zinc-storage mechanism. The reversible phase transformation between CuV 2 O 6 and ZnV 2 O 6 , accompanied by zinc ion insertion/ extraction and the reduction/oxidation of metallic Cu nanoparticles, all contribute to excellent battery performance: an impressively high specific capacity of 427 mA h g −1 at current density of 0.1 A g −1 , long-term cycling stability with minor capacity loss (0.7%) after 3000 cycles at a high current density of 5 A g −1 , and a high energy density of 317 Wh kg −1 at a power density of 210 W kg −1 . Furthermore, graphene oxide wrapped CuV 2 O 6 nanocomposites are successfully fabricated, which demonstrates the significantly enhanced specific capacity (at least 30% improvement). This work provides an intriguing cathode material and expands available options of transition metal vanadate materials for zinc-ion batteries.

VO2 is firstly employed as high-performance zinc ion battery cathode material and in detail investigated its electrochemical zinc-storage mechanism.

For the first time ultrathin (NH4)2V10O25·8H2O nanobelts are employed as a cathode material for high-rate and durable rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries.

New layered SnS2 nanosheet arrays consisting of 1–5 atomic layers were synthesized directly on Sn foil as both the tin source and the metal current collector substrates by a simple biomolecule-assisted method. It is found that SnS2 nanosheets synthesized have excellent photoelectric applications, such as on lithium ion batteries, and photocatalytic, field emission, and photoconductive properties. Cyclic voltammetry and discharge and charge behaviors of the atomic SnS2 nanosheets were examined, and it shows that the average discharge capacity in 1050 mAh/g is much larger than the theoretical capacity at the 1C rate. The photocatalytic action driven by solar light is quite quick, and the degradation rate of RhB is 90%, only irradiated for 20 min when the content of SnS2 nanosheets is 0.4 g/L. The response of the SnS2 device to the incidence UV light is very fast and shows excellent photosensitivity and stability. In addition, field emission properties of SnS2 nanosheets were also researched, and we found that the turn-on field for SnS2 is 6.9 V/μm, which lowered ever reported values. The enhanced photoelectric properties are likely to originate in a graphene-like structure. Thus, graphene-like SnS2 materials are promising candidates in the photoelectric field.