Manipulating Oxygen Vacancies by K+ Doping and Controlling Mn2+ Deposition to Boost Energy Storage in β-MnO2

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have gained wide attention for their low cost, high safety, and environmental friendliness in recent years. β-MnO2, a potential cathode material for ZIBs, has been restricted by its small channels for efficient charge storage. Herein, β-MnO2 nanorods with oxygen vacancies are fabricated by a K+-doping strategy to improve the performance of ZIBs. The assembled batteries exhibit a capacity of 468 mAh g–1, a power density of 2605 W kg–1, and an energy density of 179 Wh kg–1, which outperforms most reported ZIBs. Such a performance is owing to the synergistic combination of the oxygen vacancies in β-MnO2 and concurrent deposition of ε-MnO2 from Mn2+ in the electrolyte. Furthermore, superior cycling stability with negligible capacity decay in these batteries is demonstrated over 1000 cycles at a high current of 2 A g–1. This study reveals the importance of oxygen vacancies and Mn2+ deposition effect in understanding the mechanism of charge storage in MnO2-based ZIBs.