One-Pot Electrochemical Deposition of Polyaniline-MnO₂ Hybrids on Carbon Cloth as Binder-Free Cathode for Flexible Zinc Ion Batteries

Compositing MnO 2 with a conductive polymer is an effective strategy for fabricating a high-performance cathode for zinc ion batteries (ZIBs), by tailoring the electronic properties and enhancing the structural stability of pure MnO 2 . We developed a facile one-pot synthesis of polyaniline (PANI)-MnO 2 nanohybrid complexes with nanorod morphology on carbon cloth (CC) by rapid electrochemical techniques, which was then used as the binder-free cathode of ZIBs. In this process, PANI serves as a scaffold to improve the interfacial contact and impedance matching of pure MnO 2, and thus the prepared PANI-MnO 2 /CC cathode possesses faster electron/ion-transport capability, superior Zn storage performance, and strengthened cyclability compared with a MnO 2 /CC cathode. The assembled PANI-MnO 2 /CC//Zn cell delivers high specific capacity and energy density (285.3 mA h g –1 and 333.3 W h kg –1, respectively) as well as satisfying cycling stability (keeping stable after 1200 cycles). More impressively, the PANI-MnO 2 /CC cathode also demonstrates robust interfacial adhesion while assembled into a quasi-solid-state flexible ZIB, suggesting that the one-pot deposition of the PANI-MnO 2 composite is a promising method for the design of high-performance flexible ZIBs.