Tightly confined tellurium nanocrystals in few-layer expanded graphite with Te–C bonds toward highly reversible zinc storage.

This article focuses on the development of a tellurium/carbon (Te@EG) nanocomposite cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs), prepared via a ball-milling method that creates Te–C chemical bonds between tellurium nanocrystals and expanded graphite (EG). These Te–C bonds enhance Zn²⁺ adsorption, reduce Zn²⁺ migration barriers, and improve structural stability, resulting in improved electrochemical kinetics, high specific capacity (412 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹), excellent rate performance, and 94% capacity retention after 500 cycles. The Te@EG cathode also demonstrates mechanical flexibility and stable voltage output in soft-packaged flexible batteries, indicating potential for practical applications in flexible and wearable energy storage devices. The study highlights the significance of chemical bonding in optimizing cathode materials for AZIBs without introducing extraneous information beyond the presented research.