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Zhu D, Li J, Zheng Z, Ye S, Pan Y, Wu J, She F, Lai L, Zhou Z, Chen J, Li H, Wei L, Chen Y. Water and Salt Concentration-Dependent Electrochemical Performance of Hydrogel Electrolytes in Zinc-Ion Batteries. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:16175-16185. [PMID: 38509690 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c19112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are promising energy storage devices with safe, nonflammable electrolytes and abundant, low-cost electrode materials. Their practical applications are hampered by various water-related undesirable reactions, such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), corrosion of zinc metal, and water-induced decay of cathode materials. Polymer hydrogel electrolytes were used to control these reactions. However, salt, water, and polymeric backbones intervene in polymer hydrogels, and currently, there are no systematic studies on how salt and water concentrations synergistically affect polymer hydrogels' electrochemical performance. Here, we used an in situ polymerization method to synthesize polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogels with varied Zn(ClO4)2 (0.5 to 2.0 mol kg-1) and water (40 to 90 wt %) concentrations. Their electrochemical performances in Zn||Ti half-cells, Zn||Zn symmetrical cells, and Zn||V2O5 full cells have been comprehensively evaluated. Although the ionic conductivity of electrolytes increases with the salt concentration, a high salt concentration of 2.0 mol kg-1 with more Zn2+ solvated H2O would induce more severe HER and Zn corrosion at the electrolyte/electrode interfaces. A narrow window of the water concentration at 70-80 wt % is optimal to balance needs for achieving a high ionic conductivity and restricting water-related undesirable reactions. The chemically more active water counts roughly 64.1-73.1 wt % of the total water in electrolytes. PAM hydrogel electrolyte with 1.0 mol kg-1 Zn(ClO4)2 and 80 wt % water enables 1200 h of stable cycling in a Zn||Zn symmetric cell and 99.24% of Coulombic efficiency in a Zn||Ti half-cell. Due to the water-induced decay of V2O5, the electrolyte with 70 wt % water delivers the best performance in a Zn||V2O5 full cell, which can retain 73.7% of its initial capacity after 400 charge/discharge cycles. Our results show that achieving precise control of salt and water concentrations of hydrogel electrolytes in their optimal windows to reduce the fraction of chemically more active water while retaining high ionic conductivity is essential to enabling high-performance ZIBs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Di Zhu
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Jing Li
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Zhi Zheng
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Songbo Ye
- Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Yuqi Pan
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Jiacheng Wu
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Fangxin She
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Leo Lai
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Zihan Zhou
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Jiaxiang Chen
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Hao Li
- Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Li Wei
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Yuan Chen
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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Qin Y, Wang X. Preventing Dissolution of Cathode Active Materials by Ion-anchoring Zeolite-based Separators for Durable Aqueous Zinc Batteries. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202315464. [PMID: 38032352 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202315464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Aqueous zinc batteries have emerged as promising energy storage devices due to their safety and low cost. However, they face challenges such as anodic dendrite formation and cathodic compound dissolution. Here, we present the development of a polymer-matrixed zeolite separator (SZ) by synthesizing zeolite materials on a flexible polymeric membrane. This separator acts as an effective ionic barrier, preventing the leaching and shuttling of vanadium from the cathode, while significantly inhibiting the formation of by-products and zinc dendrites. The SZ cells demonstrate stable operation for more than 400 cycles at 0.5 A g-1 , with an initial capacity of 375.4 mAh g-1 , and over 10,000 cycles at 15 A g-1 . Notably, when pre-anchored with vanadium ions, the SZ-V cells exhibited excellent capacity retention of up to 94.6 % over 1000 cycles. The SZ separator featuring an ion barrier represents a crucial advancement towards the commercialization of zinc storage devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Qin
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523808, China
| | - Xin Wang
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523808, China
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