Metal-Organic Frameworks-Derived Tunnel Structured Co3(PO4)2@C as Cathode for New Generation High-Performance Al-Ion Batteries

Despite great progress in aluminum ion batteries (AIBs), the commercialization and performance improvement of AIBs-based carbon cathodes is greatly impeded by sluggish intercalation/extraction and redox kinetics due to large-sized AlCl4- anions. Phosphates with tunnel channels and much larger d-spacing than the radius of Al3+ could be an alternative candidate as a cathode for potential high-performance AIBs. Herein, elaborately designed porous tunnel structured Co-3(PO4)(2)@C composites derived from ZIF-67 as AIBs cathodes are demonstrated, showing increased active sites, high ionic mobility, and high Al3+ ion diffusion coefficient, leading to remarkably enhanced discharge-charge redox reaction kinetics. Furthermore, the carbon shell and porous structure performs as armor to alleviate volume change and maintain the structure integrity of the cathodes. As expected, the rationally constructed Co-3(PO4)(2)@C composite exhibits a superior capacity of 111 mA h g(-1) at a high current density of 6 A g(-1) and 151 mA h g(-1) at 2 A g(-1) after 500 cycles with capacity decay of 0.02% per cycle. This innovative strategy could be a big step forward for long-term cycle stable AIBs and reveals significant insights into the redox reaction mechanism for high-performance AIBs based on Al3+ rather than large-sized AlCl4-.