

FOLLOWUS
Department of Chemistry, Qilu Normal University, Jinan 250011, China
Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China
*Corresponding author.E-mail address:limenghua668@126.com(M. Li).
Received:15 December 2025,
Revised:2026-02-12,
Accepted:04 March 2026,
Online First:08 April 2026,
Published:2026-07
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Li Menghua, Liu Xinzheng, Sun Changhui, et al. MnO nanoflower network anchored on lamellar carbon: A high-performance cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2026, 95(7): 50-59.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as a promising a
lternative in the field of energy storage due to their lower cost
enhanced safety
and environmental friendliness. However
the development of efficient and stable cathode materials remains a significant challenge. In this work
the MnO nanoflower network anchored on a two-dimensional lamellar carbon (MnO NN/LC) was synthesized
via
metal-organic framework-derived method. The lamellar carbon serving as the 2D conductive matrix facilitates faster ion diffusion and electron transfer
resulting in superior zinc storage performance. MnO NN/LC displays larger reversible capacity
superior rate capability
and much higher cycling stability compared to traditional bulky MnO/C (B-MnO/C) material. Especially
the MnO NN/LC demonstrates long-term cycling stability with the retained capacity as high as 104.2 mA·h·g
- 1
after 1400 cycles at 1 A·g
- 1
presenting substantial enhancement over the capacity of 75.7 mA·h·g
- 1
for B-MnO/C. Ex-situ experiments indicate that MnO during the zinc ion storage is electrochemically oxidized into MnO
2
species
and actually facilitates the intercalation/deintercalation of H
+
and Zn
2+
. These findings underscore the potential of the MnO NN/LC composite as a promising cathode material for AZIBs.
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