Synergistic Amorphization and Interfacial Metallization Activates a Mn(VO ₃ ) ₂ Cathode with a Tailored Atomic-Layer Semimetallic 1T′-MoS ₂ Interphase for Advanced Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Crystal Mn(VO 3 ) 2 ( c -MVO) cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) typically experience irreversible structural degradation and slow Zn 2+ diffusion kinetics. Here, we propose a colloidal chemical synthesis strategy that concurrently achieves amorphization and interphase engineering, constructing a -MVO@MoS 2 core@shell heterostructures. The in situ grown atomic-layer semimetallic 1T′-MoS 2 shell facilitates a -MVO formation and constructs a conductive interphase for faster electron transport, while a a -MVO core provides abundant Zn 2+ reaction sites and flexible diffusion paths. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the diffusion barrier of Zn 2+ in a -MVO@MoS 2 (1.08 eV) is considerably lower than that in c -MVO (3.71 eV). Consequently, the tailored a -MVO@MoS 2 cathode delivers a specific capacity of 205.68 mAh g –1 at 0.5 A g –1 (40 times that of c -MVO) and exhibits excellent cycling stability with a capacity retention of 87.64% after 5000 cycles at 10 A g –1 . This work paves a crystal phase engineering approach for designing advanced electrode materials for AZIBs.