Aqueous
zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) with cost-effective and safe
features are highly competitive in grid energy storage applications,
but plagued by the sluggish Zn2+ diffusion kinetics and
poor cyclability of cathodes. Herein, a one-stone-two-birds strategy
of La3+ incorporation (La–V2O5) is developed to motivate Zn2+ insertion/extraction kinetics
and stabilize vanadium species for V2O5. Theoretical
and experimental studies reveal the incorporated La3+ ions
in V2O5 can not only serve as pillars to expand
the interlayer distance (11.77 Å) and lower the Zn2+ migration energy barrier (0.82 eV) but also offer intermediated
level and narrower band gap (0.54 eV), thus accelerating the electron/ion
diffusion kinetics. Importantly, the steadily doped La3+ ions effectively stabilize the V–O bonds by shortening the
bond length, thereby inhibiting vanadium species dissolution. Therefore,
the resulting La–V2O5-ZIBs deliver an
exceptional rate capacity of 405 mA h g–1 (0.1 A
g–1), long-term stability with 93.8% retention after
5000 cycles (10 A g–1), and extraordinary energy
density of 289.3 W h kg–1, outperforming various
metal-ions-doped V2O5 cathodes. Moreover, the
La–V2O5 pouch cell presents excellent
electrochemical performance and impressive flexibility and integration
ability. The strategies of incorporating rare-earth-metal ions provide
guidance to other well-established aqueous ZIBs cathodes and other
advanced electrochemical devices.
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