3D Printing of Hydrothermal Vanadium Disulfide Electrodes for Zinc-Ion Batteries

Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries are receiving growing attention as beyond-lithium power sources for wearable electronics and sensors, owing to their high theoretical capacity, environmental friendliness and low cost. Vanadium disulfide is a layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenide (TMD) with great potential for zinc ion battery cathodes, owing to its large interlayer spacing, fast ionic diffusion and high conductivity. Despite these beneficial features, vanadium disulfide has mainly been investigated in coin-cell batteries, which are difficult to directly integrate in wearable electronics.<br/><br/>Here, we demonstrated the combination of an easily-scalable hydrothermal synthesis with a room-temperature 3D Printing process to fabricate vanadium disulfide electrodes with customized geometry. The hydrothermal vanadium disulfide was mixed with a polymeric binder and conductive additives to obtain a stable ink with optimal printability. The architecture of the VS₂ electrodes was rationally tailored <i>via </i>the printing process to facilitate the electrolyte penetration and promote fast charge transfer. Finally, the printed vanadium disulfide electrodes were coupled with zinc anodes to assemble aqueous zinc-ion batteries.