Enhanced Reversible Zinc Ion Intercalation in Deficient Ammonium Vanadate for High-Performance Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery

Ammonium vanadate with bronze structure (NH4V4O10) is a promising cathode material for zinc-ion batteries due to its high specific capacity and low cost. However, the extraction of $${\text{NH}}_{{4}}^{ + }$$ NH 4 + at a high voltage during charge/discharge processes leads to irreversible reaction and structure degradation. In this work, partial $${\text{NH}}_{{4}}^{ + }$$ NH 4 + ions were pre-removed from NH4V4O10 through heat treatment; NH4V4O10 nanosheets were directly grown on carbon cloth through hydrothermal method. Deficient NH4V4O10 (denoted as NVO), with enlarged interlayer spacing, facilitated fast zinc ions transport and high storage capacity and ensured the highly reversible electrochemical reaction and the good stability of layered structure. The NVO nanosheets delivered a high specific capacity of 457 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and a capacity retention of 81% over 1000 cycles at 2 A g−1. The initial Coulombic efficiency of NVO could reach up to 97% compared to 85% of NH4V4O10 and maintain almost 100% during cycling, indicating the high reaction reversibility in NVO electrode.