Toward low-temperature zinc-ion batteries: strategy, progress, and prospect in vanadium-based cathodes

Low-temperature vanadium-based zinc ion batteries (LT-VZIBs) have attracted much attention in recent years due to their excellent theoretical specific capacities, low cost, and electrochemical structural stability. However, low working temperature surrounding often results in retarded ion transport not only in the frozen aqueous electrolyte, but also at/across the cathode/electrolyte interface and inside cathode interior, significantly limiting the performance of LT-VZIBs for practical applications. In this review, a variety of strategies to solve these issues, mainly including cathode interface/bulk structure engineering and electrolyte optimizations, are categorially discussed and systematically summarized from the design principles to in-depth characterizations and mechanisms. In the end, several issues about future research directions and advancements in characterization tools are prospected, aiming to facilitate the scientific and commercial development of LT-VZIBs. (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Energy Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH)