Scalable and highly conductive α-MnO2/rGO composite cathode for a flexible quasi-solid-state zinc-ion battery

Aqueous Zn//MnO 2 batteries have attracted much attention for their promising application in large-scale energy storage and flexible electronics. However, it is an obstacle to develop high-performance MnO 2 that can be massively synthesized via a facile method. Herein, a mechanical grinding method is employed to prepare α -MnO 2 /reduced graphene oxide ( α -MnO 2 /rGO) composite material in which α -MnO 2 nanofibers are uniformly loaded onto the surface of rGO sheets. It is found that the α -MnO 2 /rGO composite cathode exhibits much superior rate performance and cycling stability over α -MnO 2 , which is attributed to the significantly increased electrical conductivity and enlarged specific surface area. In addition, a flexible quasi-solid-state Zn// α -MnO 2 /rGO battery with excellent cycling performance was fabricated, and can survive multiple damages. This work provides a guidance to the massive production of high-performance cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries.