Use of Hydrogel Electrolyte in Zn-MnO Rechargeable Batteries: Characterization of Safety, Performance, and Cu Ion Diffusion.

Achieving commercially acceptable Zn-MnO rechargeable batteries depends on the reversibility of active zinc and manganese materials, and avoiding side reactions during the second electron reaction of MnO. Typically, liquid electrolytes such as potassium hydroxide (KOH) are used for Zn-MnO rechargeable batteries. However, it is known that using liquid electrolytes causes the formation of electrochemically inactive materials, such as precipitation MnO or ZnMnO resulting from the uncontrollable reaction of Mn dissolved species with zincate ions.

Hydroxyl Conducting Hydrogels Enable Low-Maintenance Commercially Sized Rechargeable Zn-MnO Batteries for Use in Solar Microgrids.

Zinc (Zn)-manganese dioxide (MnO) rechargeable batteries have attracted research interest because of high specific theoretical capacity as well as being environmentally friendly, intrinsically safe and low-cost. Liquid electrolytes, such as potassium hydroxide, are historically used in these batteries; however, many failure mechanisms of the Zn-MnO battery chemistry result from the use of liquid electrolytes, including the formation of electrochemically inert phases such as hetaerolite (ZnMnO) and the promotion of shape change of the Zn electrode. This manuscript reports on the fundamental and commercial results of gel electrolytes for use in rechargeable Zn-MnO batteries as an alternative to liquid electrolytes.

Microemulsion-based synthesis and electrochemical evaluation of different nanostructures of LiCoO2 prepared through sacrificial nanowire templates.

For the first time, we demonstrate the use of a microemulsion reaction to synthesize different nanostructures of LiCoO2 cathode material. By varying the annealing temperature and time, porous nanowires and nanoparticles of LiCoO2 are obtained. The electrochemical performances of these different nanostructures obtained under the respective annealing conditions are evaluated.