Amorphous organic-hybrid vanadium oxide for near-barrier-free ultrafast-charging aqueous zinc-ion battery

Fast-charging metal-ion batteries are essential for advancing energy storage technologies, but their performance is often limited by the high activation energy (Ea) required for ion diffusion in solids. Addressing this challenge has been particularly difficult for multivalent ions like Zn2+. Here, we present an amorphous organic-hybrid vanadium oxide (AOH-VO), featuring one-dimensional chains arranged in a disordered structure with atomic/molecular-level pores for promoting hierarchical ion diffusion pathways and reducing Zn2+ interactions with the solid skeleton. AOH-VO cathode demonstrates an exceptionally low Ea of 7.8 kJ·mol−1 for Zn2+ diffusion in solids and 6.3 kJ·mol−1 across the cathode-electrolyte interface, both significantly lower than that of electrolyte (13.2 kJ·mol−1) in zinc ion battery. This enables ultrafast charge-discharge performance, with an Ah-level pouch cell achieving 81.3% of its capacity in just 9.5 minutes and retaining 90.7% capacity over 5000 cycles. These findings provide a promising pathway toward stable, ultrafast-charging battery technologies with near-barrier-free ion dynamics.