Comprehensive Understandings of Hydrogen Bond Chemistry in Aqueous Batteries.

Aqueous batteries are emerging as highly promising contenders for large-scale grid energy storage because of uncomplicated assembly, exceptional safety, and cost-effectiveness. The unique aqueous electrolyte with a rich hydrogen bond (HB) environment inevitably has a significant impact on the electrode materials and electrochemical processes. While numerous reviews have focused on the materials design and assembly of aqueous batteries, the utilization of HB chemistry is overlooked.

3D hierarchical graphene matrices enable stable Zn anodes for aqueous Zn batteries.

Metallic zinc anodes of aqueous zinc ion batteries suffer from severe dendrite and side reaction issues, resulting in poor cycling stability, especially at high rates and capacities. Herein, we develop two three-dimensional hierarchical graphene matrices consisting of nitrogen-doped graphene nanofibers clusters anchored on vertical graphene arrays of modified multichannel carbon. The graphene matrix with radial direction carbon channels possesses high surface area and porosity, which effectively minimizes the surface local current density, manipulates the Zn ions concentration gradient, and homogenizes the electric field distribution to regulate Zn deposition.

Unlocking the Interfacial Adsorption-Intercalation Pseudocapacitive Storage Limit to Enabling All-Climate, High Energy/Power Density and Durable Zn-Ion Batteries.

Sluggish storage kinetics and insufficient performance are the major challenges that restrict the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) applied for zinc ion storage, especially at the extreme temperature conditions. Herein, a multiscale interface structure-integrated modulation concept was presented, to unlock the omnidirectional storage kinetics-enhanced porous VSe ⋅n H O host. Theory research indicated that the co-modulation of H O intercalation and selenium vacancy enables enhancing the interfacial zinc ion capture ability and decreasing the zinc ion diffusion barrier.

Metal-Organic Framework-Based Materials in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are promising for large-scale energy storage systems due to their high safety, large capacity, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. However, their commercialization is currently hindered by several challenging issues, including cathode degradation and zinc dendrite growth. Recently, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives have gained significant attention and are widely used in AZIBs due to their highly porous structures, large specific surface area, and ability to design frameworks for Zn shuttle.

Thermodynamically Stable Dual-Modified LiF&FeF layer Empowering Ni-Rich Cathodes with Superior Cyclabilities.

Pushing the limit of cutoff potentials allows nickel-rich layered oxides to provide greater energy density and specific capacity whereas reducing thermodynamic and kinetic stability. Herein, a one-step dual-modified method is proposed for in situ synthesizing thermodynamically stable LiF&FeF coating on LiNi Co Mn O surfaces by capturing lithium impurity on the surface to overcome the challenges suffered. The thermodynamically stabilized LiF&FeF coating can effectively suppress the nanoscale structural degradation and the intergranular cracks.

Comprehensive H O Molecules Regulation via Deep Eutectic Solvents for Ultra-Stable Zinc Metal Anode.

The corrosion, parasitic reactions, and aggravated dendrite growth severely restrict development of aqueous Zn metal batteries. Here, we report a novel strategy to break the hydrogen bond network between water molecules and construct the Zn(TFSI) -sulfolane-H O deep eutectic solvents. This strategy cuts off the transfer of protons/hydroxides and inhibits the activity of H O, as reflected in a much lower freezing point (<-80 °C), a significantly larger electrochemical stable window (>3 V), and suppressed evaporative water from electrolytes.

Dual Vertically Aligned Electrode-Inspired High-Capacity Lithium Batteries.

Lithium (Li) dendrite formation and poor Li transport kinetics under high-charging current densities and capacities inhibit the capabilities of Li metal batteries (LMBs). This study proposes a 3D conductive multichannel carbon framework (MCF) with homogeneously distributed vertical graphene nanowalls (VGWs@MCF) as a multifunctional host to efficiently regulate Li deposition and accelerate Li transport. A novel electrode for both Li|VGWs@MCF anode and LFP|VGWs@MCF (NCM |VGWs@MCF) cathode is designed and fabricated using a dual vertically aligned architecture.

Nitrogen, Oxygen-Codoped Vertical Graphene Arrays Coated 3D Flexible Carbon Nanofibers with High Silicon Content as an Ultrastable Anode for Superior Lithium Storage.

Free-standing and foldable electrodes with high energy density and long lifespan have recently elicited attention on the development of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for flexible electronic devices. However, both low energy density and slow kinetics in cycling impede their practical applications. In this work, a free-standing and binder-free N, O-codoped 3D vertical graphene carbon nanofibers electrode with ultra-high silicon content (VGAs@Si@CNFs) is developed via electrospinning, subsequent thermal treatment, and chemical vapor deposition processes.

Novel Charging-Optimized Cathode for a Fast and High-Capacity Zinc-Ion Battery.

A rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion battery (ZIB) is one of the attractive candidates for large-scale energy storage. Its further application relies on the exploitation of a high-capacity cathode and the understanding of an intrinsic energy storage mechanism. Herein, we report a novel layered KVO cathode material for the ZIB, adopting a strategy of charging first to extract part of K-ions from vanadate in initial few cycles, which creates more electrochemically active sites and lowers charge-transfer resistance of the ZIB system.

Fe VO Hierarchical Porous Microparticles Prepared via a Facile Surface Solvation Treatment for High-Performance Lithium and Sodium Storage.

Preventing the aggregation of nanosized electrode materials is a key point to fully utilize the advantage of the high capacity. In this work, a facile and low-cost surface solvation treatment is developed to synthesize Fe VO hierarchical porous microparticles, which efficiently prevents the aggregation of the Fe VO primary nanoparticles. The reaction between alcohol molecules and surface hydroxy groups is confirmed by density functional theory calculations and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Graphene Scroll-Coated α-MnO Nanowires as High-Performance Cathode Materials for Aqueous Zn-Ion Battery.

The development of manganese dioxide as the cathode for aqueous Zn-ion battery (ZIB) is limited by the rapid capacity fading and material dissolution. Here, a highly reversible aqueous ZIB using graphene scroll-coated α-MnO as the cathode is proposed. The graphene scroll is uniformly coated on the MnO nanowire with an average width of 5 nm, which increases the electrical conductivity of the MnO nanowire and relieves the dissolution of the cathode material during cycling.