{"publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2050-7496"],"issn":["2050-7488"]},"date_created":"2026-09-20T22:01:48Z","department":[{"_id":"MaIb"}],"_id":"22965","title":"Lattice-level defect engineering of dense Mn2O3 hosts unlocks fast H+/Zn2+ storage and long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries","article_processing_charge":"No","fulldoi":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b","oa_version":"None","publication_status":"epub_ahead","type":"journal_article","publisher":"Royal Society of Chemistry","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"year":"2026","supplementarymaterial":"yes","OA_type":"closed access","date_updated":"2026-10-06T10:34:27Z","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Manganese-based aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as promising candidates for large-scale energy storage owing to their low cost, intrinsic safety, and the abundance of constituent elements. However, their practical deployment is still restricted by severe capacity fading caused by Jahn–Teller-induced structural instability and sluggish Zn2+ transport in the cathode. Although surface coating, heteroatom doping, and structural regulation have been widely explored to improve Mn-based cathodes, these approaches may suffer from increased interfacial resistance, compositional complexity, or limited control over the intrinsic electronic structure. In this context, oxygen-vacancy engineering offers a more direct route to modulate local coordination environments and accelerate Zn2+/H+ storage kinetics. Herein, lattice-level defect engineering of a dense Mn2O3 host is achieved through a metal–organic framework-derived synthesis followed by mild secondary annealing. The introduced oxygen vacancies regulate the local electronic structure and coordination environment, thereby facilitating Zn2+ diffusion, accelerating charge-transfer kinetics, and improving electrochemical reversibility. Combined experimental and theoretical investigations further show that oxygen-vacancy engineering enhances electronic conductivity, reduces the Zn2+ migration barrier, and enables a reversible dual-ion storage mechanism involving both H+ and Zn2+. Benefiting from these effects, the Zn‖Vo-Mn2O3 battery delivers a high specific capacity of 359 mAh g−1 at 0.3 A g−1, maintains 210 mAh g−1 at 6 A g−1, and retains 74.3% of its capacity after 10 000 cycles at 12 A g−1 after only 150 s of initial preconditioning. This work highlights oxygen-vacancy engineering as an effective route to enhancing the kinetic and structural stability of Mn-based cathodes for advanced AZIBs."}],"author":[{"full_name":"Yu, Ao","first_name":"Ao","last_name":"Yu"},{"first_name":"Xingqi","full_name":"Chang, Xingqi","last_name":"Chang"},{"last_name":"Lu","first_name":"Xuan","full_name":"Lu, Xuan"},{"last_name":"He","first_name":"Ren","id":"366c4efa-f61c-11f0-808b-d12a4547ac69","full_name":"He, Ren"},{"last_name":"Yang","first_name":"Linlin","full_name":"Yang, Linlin"},{"last_name":"Chai","full_name":"Chai, Jiali","first_name":"Jiali"},{"last_name":"Bi","first_name":"Xiaoyu","full_name":"Bi, Xiaoyu"},{"last_name":"Chacón-Borrero","first_name":"Jesús","full_name":"Chacón-Borrero, Jesús"},{"full_name":"Mejia-Centeno, Karol V.","first_name":"Karol V.","last_name":"Mejia-Centeno"},{"last_name":"Llorca","full_name":"Llorca, Jordi","first_name":"Jordi"},{"first_name":"Eduardo","full_name":"Villalobos-Portillo, Eduardo","last_name":"Villalobos-Portillo"},{"first_name":"Qirong","full_name":"Liu, Qirong","last_name":"Liu"},{"first_name":"Jian","full_name":"Shang, Jian","last_name":"Shang"},{"last_name":"Cabot","first_name":"Andreu","full_name":"Cabot, Andreu"}],"status":"public","month":"08","publication":"Journal of Materials Chemistry A","quality_controlled":"1","doi":"10.1039/d6ta05844b","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","article_type":"original","day":"31","researchdata_availability":"no","date_published":"2026-08-31T00:00:00Z","acknowledgement":"Ao Y. acknowledges financial support from the China Scholarship Council (No. 202208320041), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22475231), and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Planning Project (No. KJZD20230923115227054). The XAS experiments were performed in collaboration with ALBA staff at the NOTOS beamline of ALBA Synchrotron (experiment ID: 2024028418), Barcelona, Spain. JL is a Serra Húnter Fellow and is grateful to the Academia Excellence program (Generalitat de Catalunya) and to the project PID2024-156765OB-C21 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and to the María de Maeztu Units of Excellence Programme CEX2023-001300 M, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.","dataavailabilitystatement":"The data that support the findings of this study are available within the manuscript and the corresponding supplementary information (SI). Data are available upon request from the authors. Supplementary information is available. See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b.","das_tickbox":"1","scopus_import":"1","citation":{"chicago":"Yu, Ao, Xingqi Chang, Xuan Lu, Ren He, Linlin Yang, Jiali Chai, Xiaoyu Bi, et al. “Lattice-Level Defect Engineering of Dense Mn2O3 Hosts Unlocks Fast H+/Zn2+ Storage and Long-Life Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.” <i>Journal of Materials Chemistry A</i>. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b\">https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b</a>.","mla":"Yu, Ao, et al. “Lattice-Level Defect Engineering of Dense Mn2O3 Hosts Unlocks Fast H+/Zn2+ Storage and Long-Life Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.” <i>Journal of Materials Chemistry A</i>, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b\">10.1039/d6ta05844b</a>.","apa":"Yu, A., Chang, X., Lu, X., He, R., Yang, L., Chai, J., … Cabot, A. (2026). Lattice-level defect engineering of dense Mn2O3 hosts unlocks fast H+/Zn2+ storage and long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries. <i>Journal of Materials Chemistry A</i>. Royal Society of Chemistry. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b\">https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b</a>","short":"A. Yu, X. Chang, X. Lu, R. He, L. Yang, J. Chai, X. Bi, J. Chacón-Borrero, K.V. Mejia-Centeno, J. Llorca, E. Villalobos-Portillo, Q. Liu, J. Shang, A. Cabot, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2026).","ista":"Yu A, Chang X, Lu X, He R, Yang L, Chai J, Bi X, Chacón-Borrero J, Mejia-Centeno KV, Llorca J, Villalobos-Portillo E, Liu Q, Shang J, Cabot A. 2026. Lattice-level defect engineering of dense Mn2O3 hosts unlocks fast H+/Zn2+ storage and long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Journal of Materials Chemistry A.","ama":"Yu A, Chang X, Lu X, et al. Lattice-level defect engineering of dense Mn2O3 hosts unlocks fast H+/Zn2+ storage and long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries. <i>Journal of Materials Chemistry A</i>. 2026. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ta05844b\">10.1039/d6ta05844b</a>","ieee":"A. Yu <i>et al.</i>, “Lattice-level defect engineering of dense Mn2O3 hosts unlocks fast H+/Zn2+ storage and long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries,” <i>Journal of Materials Chemistry A</i>. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026."}}