Highly crystalline Mn 2O 3 materials with tunable pore sizes are obtained and employed as high-performance cathode materials for reversible aqueous Zn-ion battery.
The Zn/Mn 2O 3 battery exhibits significantly improved rate capability and remarkable cycling durability due to the introduction of nanoporous architecture.
The Zn 2+/H + intercalations mechanism is put forward for the Zn/Mn 2O 3 battery.
Manganese oxides are regarded as one of the most promising cathode materials in rechargeable
aqueous Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) because of the low price and high security. However,
the practical application of Mn
2O
3 in ZIBs is still plagued by the low specific capacity and poor rate capability. Herein,
highly crystalline Mn
2O
3 materials with interconnected mesostructures and controllable pore sizes are obtained
via a ligand-assisted self-assembly process and used as high-performance electrode
materials for reversible aqueous ZIBs. The coordination degree between Mn
2+ and citric acid ligand plays a crucial role in the formation of the mesostructure,
and the pore sizes can be easily tuned from 3.2 to 7.3 nm. Ascribed to the unique
feature of nanoporous architectures, excellent zinc-storage performance can be achieved
in ZIBs during charge/discharge processes. The Mn
2O
3 electrode exhibits high reversible capacity (233 mAh g
−1 at 0.3 A g
−1), superior rate capability (162 mAh g
−1 retains at 3.08 A g
−1) and remarkable cycling durability over 3000 cycles at a high current rate of 3.08 A g
−1. Moreover, the corresponding electrode reaction mechanism is studied in depth according
to a series of analytical methods. These results suggest that rational design of the
nanoporous architecture for electrode materials can effectively improve the battery
performance.