Boosting the capacity and stability of a MoO cathode valence regulation and polypyrrole coating for a rechargeable Zn ion battery.

Molybdenum trioxide (MoO) is emerging as a hugely competitive cathode material for aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) for its high theoretical capacity and electrochemical activity. Nevertheless, owing to its undesirable electronic transport capability and poor structural stability, the practical capacity and cycling performance of MoO are yet unsatisfactory, which greatly blocks its commercial use. In this work, we report an effective approach to first synthesise nanosized MoO materials to provide more active specific surface areas, while improving the capacity and cycle life of MoO by introducing low valence Mo and coated polypyrrole (PPy).