A weakly solvating electrolyte towards practical rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Xin Shi; Jinhao Xie; Jin Wang; Shilei Xie; Zujin Yang; Xihong Lu

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-44615-y

Nature Communications (Jan 2024)

A weakly solvating electrolyte towards practical rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Xin Shi,
Jinhao Xie,
Jin Wang,
Shilei Xie,
Zujin Yang,
Xihong Lu

Affiliations

Xin Shi: MOE of the Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, The Key Lab of Low-carbon Chem & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University
Jinhao Xie: MOE of the Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, The Key Lab of Low-carbon Chem & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University
Jin Wang: MOE of the Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, The Key Lab of Low-carbon Chem & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University
Shilei Xie: School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Guangdong Engineering and Technology Research Center for Advanced Nanomaterials, Dongguan University of Technology
Zujin Yang: MOE of the Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, The Key Lab of Low-carbon Chem & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University
Xihong Lu: MOE of the Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, The Key Lab of Low-carbon Chem & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44615-y
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Structure deterioration and side reaction, which originated from the solvated H2O, are the main constraints for the practical deployment of both cathode and anode in aqueous Zn-ion batteries. Here we formulate a weakly solvating electrolyte to reduce the solvating power of H2O and strengthen the coordination competitiveness of SO4 2− to Zn2+ over H2O. Experiment results and theoretical simulations demonstrate that the water-poor solvation structure of Zn2+ is achieved, which can (i) substantially eliminate solvated-H2O-mediated undesirable side reactions on the Zn anode. (ii) boost the desolvation kinetics of Zn2+ and suppress Zn dendrite growth as well as structure aberration of the cathode. Remarkably, the synergy of these two factors enables long-life full cells including Zn/NaV3O8·1.5H2O, Zn/MnO2 and Zn/CoFe(CN)6 cells. More importantly, practical rechargeable AA-type Zn/NVO cells are assembled, which present a capacity of 101.7 mAh and stability of 96.1% capacity retention after 30 cycles at 0.66 C.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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