Cooperative Jahn-Teller effect and engineered long-range strain in manganese oxide/graphene superlattice for aqueous zinc-ion batteries

作者：Shijian Wang, Xin Guo, Kun Huang, Amritroop Achari, Javad Safaei, Yaojie Lei, Dongfang Li, Qinfen Gu, Chenghua Sun, Lucy Gloag, Steven J. Langford, A. K. Geǐm, Rahul R. Nair, Guoxiu Wang · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-025-60558-y · 被引用次数：74 · 研究领域：Advanced battery technologies research、Advancements in Battery Materials、Supercapacitor Materials and Fabrication

The Jahn-Teller and cooperative Jahn-Teller effects are phenomena that induce asymmetry in individual ions and solid-state lattices and are commonly observed in structures containing specific transition metals, such as copper and manganese. Although the Jahn-Teller effect causes lattice distortions that stress electrode materials in rechargeable batteries, strategically utilising the strain generated by cooperative Jahn-Teller distortions can enhance structural stability. Here we introduce the cooperative Jahn-Teller effect on MnO2 by constructing a two-dimensional superlattice structure with graphene crated in the bulk MnO2/graphene composite material. The strong interaction between MnO2 and graphene increases the concentration of high-spin Mn3+ ions, creating orderly long-range biaxial strains that are compressive in the out-of-plane direction and tensile in the in-plane direction. These strains mitigate Zn2+ intercalation stress and proton corrosion, enabling over 5000 cycles with 165 mAh g−1 capacity retention at 5 C (1 C = 308 mA g−1) in aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Our approach offers an effective strategy to significantly enhance the lifetime of rechargeable batteries by introducing the cooperative Jahn-Teller effect that overcomes the stress of ion insertion in electrode materials. Lattice distortion in electrode materials often results in battery degradation. Here, the authors exploit a cooperative Jahn-Teller effect in a MnO2/graphene superlattice to create strain-re...