Zn-Ion Batteries: Boosting the Rate Capability and Low-temperature Performance by Combining Structure and Morphology Engineering

Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) have been considered as one kind of the most promising cathode materials for Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) due to their low cost, high performance, high safety, and high abundance. However, owing to the low conductivity and single electron reaction, it is a great challenge to obtain a PBA cathode material with high reversible capacity, high rate capability, and good temperature adaptability. Here, a cathode material, K1.14(VO)3.33[Fe(CN)6]2·6.8H2O (KVHCF), with a multielectron reaction and double conductive carbon framework (DCCF) is designed and synthesized by combining structure and morphology engineering. With the multielectron reaction and high electronic conductivity simultaneously, the KVHCF@DCCF cathode material delivers a high specific capacity (180 mAh·g–1 @ 400 mA·g–1) and the best rate performance (116 mAh·g–1 @ 8000 mA·g–1) of the reported PBAs. Moreover, KVHCF@DCCF presents a high specific capacity of 132 mAh·g–1 @ 400 mA·g–1 at 0 °C. Even at −10 °C, it still delivers specific capacities of 127 mAh·g–1 @ 40 mA·g–1 and 80 mAh·g–1 @ 400 mA·g–1 with a retention of 86% after 700 cycles. In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are carried out to investigate the charge–discharge electrochemical reaction mechanism.