Fabricating Composites of Multicomponent Active Substances Embedded in Carbon Matrix for Enhancing Structural Stability and Redox Kinetics of Cathode in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are recognized as a potential candidate for large-scale energy storage due to its high-security and low-expense aspects. However, the poor structural stability and sluggish redox kinetics of cathode material lead to the serious capacity fading and bad rate performances, which hinders its practical applications. Herein, a novel one-step pyrolysis strategy is conducted for fabricating the composites of multicomponent active substances (including WO3, 3 , Bi and Bi2O3) 2 O 3 ) embedded in amorphous N-doped carbon matrix (BWO@C) using polydopamine-coated Bi2WO6 2 WO 6 micro-flowers as the precursors. The amorphous nitrogen- doped carbon endows BWO@C composite to possess more active-sites and higher electrical conductivity for rapid electrons/ions transport, and meanwhile the active substances could be effectively utilized even undergoing thousands of charge/discharge cycles. Therefore, the resulting BWO@C as cathode for aqueous ZIBs exhibits satisfying rate performances as well as outstanding cycling stability. This work provides a simple and efficient pathway for designing the cathode materials with high conductivity and high structural stability to achieve remarkable performances and long life-span of aqueous ZIBs.