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All-temperature zinc batteries with high-entropy aqueous electrolyte

Author

Listed:
  • Chongyin Yang

    (University of Maryland
    Dalhousie University)

  • Jiale Xia

    (University of Maryland)

  • Chunyu Cui

    (University of Maryland)

  • Travis P. Pollard

    (DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory)

  • Jenel Vatamanu

    (DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory)

  • Antonio Faraone

    (NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology)

  • Joseph A. Dura

    (NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology)

  • Madhusudan Tyagi

    (NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    University of Maryland)

  • Alex Kattan

    (Washington University)

  • Elijah Thimsen

    (Washington University)

  • Jijian Xu

    (University of Maryland)

  • Wentao Song

    (Dalhousie University)

  • Enyuan Hu

    (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

  • Xiao Ji

    (University of Maryland)

  • Singyuk Hou

    (University of Maryland)

  • Xiyue Zhang

    (University of Maryland)

  • Michael S. Ding

    (DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory)

  • Sooyeon Hwang

    (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

  • Dong Su

    (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

  • Yang Ren

    (Argonne National Laboratory
    City University of Hong Kong)

  • Xiao-Qing Yang

    (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

  • Howard Wang

    (University of Maryland)

  • Oleg Borodin

    (DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory)

  • Chunsheng Wang

    (University of Maryland)

Abstract

Electrification of transportation and rising demand for grid energy storage continue to build momentum around batteries across the globe. However, the supply chain of Li-ion batteries is exposed to the increasing challenges of resourcing essential and scarce materials. Therefore, incentives to develop more sustainable battery chemistries are growing. Here we show an aqueous ZnCl2 electrolyte with introduced LiCl as supporting salt. Once the electrolyte is optimized to Li2ZnCl4⋅9H2O, the assembled Zn–air battery can sustain stable cycling over the course of 800 hours at a current density of 0.4 mA cm−2 between −60 °C and +80 °C, with 100% Coulombic efficiency for Zn stripping/plating. Even at −60 °C, >80% of room-temperature power density can be retained. Advanced characterization and theoretical calculations reveal a high-entropy solvation structure that is responsible for the excellent performance. The strong acidity allows ZnCl2 to accept donated Cl− ions to form ZnCl42− anions, while water molecules remain within the free solvent network at low salt concentration or coordinate with Li ions. Our work suggests an effective strategy for the rational design of electrolytes that could enable next-generation Zn batteries.

Suggested Citation

  • Chongyin Yang & Jiale Xia & Chunyu Cui & Travis P. Pollard & Jenel Vatamanu & Antonio Faraone & Joseph A. Dura & Madhusudan Tyagi & Alex Kattan & Elijah Thimsen & Jijian Xu & Wentao Song & Enyuan Hu &, 2023. "All-temperature zinc batteries with high-entropy aqueous electrolyte," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(3), pages 325-335, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:6:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1038_s41893-022-01028-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-022-01028-x
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Hongyu Lu & Jisong Hu & Xijun Wei & Kaiqi Zhang & Xiao Xiao & Jingxin Zhao & Qiang Hu & Jing Yu & Guangmin Zhou & Bingang Xu, 2023. "A recyclable biomass electrolyte towards green zinc-ion batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Hongliu Dai & Tianxiao Sun & Jigang Zhou & Jian Wang & Zhangsen Chen & Gaixia Zhang & Shuhui Sun, 2024. "Unraveling chemical origins of dendrite formation in zinc-ion batteries via in situ/operando X-ray spectroscopy and imaging," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Qingshun Nian & Xuan Luo & Digen Ruan & Yecheng Li & Bing-Qing Xiong & Zhuangzhuang Cui & Zihong Wang & Qi Dong & Jiajia Fan & Jinyu Jiang & Jun Ma & Zhihao Ma & Dazhuang Wang & Xiaodi Ren, 2024. "Highly reversible zinc metal anode enabled by strong Brønsted acid and hydrophobic interfacial chemistry," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Bin Ouyang & Yan Zeng, 2024. "The rise of high-entropy battery materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-5, December.
    5. Xin Shi & Jinhao Xie & Jin Wang & Shilei Xie & Zujin Yang & Xihong Lu, 2024. "A weakly solvating electrolyte towards practical rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Quanquan Guo & Wei Li & Xiaodong Li & Jiaxu Zhang & Davood Sabaghi & Jianjun Zhang & Bowen Zhang & Dongqi Li & Jingwei Du & Xingyuan Chu & Sein Chung & Kilwon Cho & Nguyen Ngan Nguyen & Zhongquan Liao, 2024. "Proton-selective coating enables fast-kinetics high-mass-loading cathodes for sustainable zinc batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Xiaotan Zhang & Jiangxu Li & Yanfen Liu & Bingan Lu & Shuquan Liang & Jiang Zhou, 2024. "Single [0001]-oriented zinc metal anode enables sustainable zinc batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

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