Publications by authors named "Zhenglu Zhu"

Featured with the highest possible energy density, anode-free lithium-metal batteries (AFBs) are still challenged by the fast capacity decay, especially for the ones operated in commercial carbonate electrolytes, which can be ascribed to the poor stability and continual broken/formation of the solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) formed on the anode side. Here, sacrificial additives, which have low solubility in carbonate electrolytes and can be continuously released, are proposed for AFBs. The sacrificial and continuously-releasing feature gifts the additives the capability to form and heal the SEI during the long-term cycling process, thus minimizing the loss of active Li and enabling the AFLMBs with high loading LiNiCoMnO (21.

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The utilization of thin zinc (Zn) anodes with a high depth of discharge is an effective strategy to increase the energy density of aqueous Zn metal batteries (ZMBs), but challenged by the poor reversibility of Zn electrode due to the serious Zn-consuming side reactions at the Zn||electrolyte interface. Here, we introduce 2-bromomethyl-1,3-dioxolane (BDOL) and methanol (MeOH) as electrolyte additive into aqueous ZnSO electrolyte. In the as-formulated electrolyte, BDOL with a strong electron-withdrawing group (-CHBr) tends to pair with the HO-Zn-MeOH complex, leading to the formation of organobromine-partnered HO-Zn-MeOH cluster ions.

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  • Efficient recycling of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries is essential, but current methods involve complex processes that require multiple steps to regenerate spent LFP (SLFP) electrodes.
  • Researchers have developed a new technique called direct electrode reuse (DER), which revitalizes SLFP electrodes in just 6 minutes using a specific lithium solution, restoring their structure and electrochemical performance.
  • The DER method not only enhances the lifespan of LFP electrodes—achieving a high specific capacity even after 3 months—but also offers significant economic and environmental advantages over traditional recycling methods.
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  • Anode-free lithium (Li) metal batteries can achieve the highest energy density but struggle with low charging efficiency when used with carbonate-based electrolytes.
  • The introduction of tin octoate additives enhances battery performance by forming a protective layer that reduces side reactions and ensures even Li plating on the copper substrate.
  • This method not only improves Li battery cycling stability and achieves approximately 99.1% coulombic efficiency but is also applicable to other p-block metal octoates and sodium (Na) metal battery systems, indicating its broad potential for battery technology.
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The cobalt-free layered oxide cathode of LiNiMnO is promising for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, under high-voltage conditions, severe side reactions between the Co-free cathode and electrolyte, as well as grain boundary cracks and pulverization of particles, hinder its practical applications. Herein, an electrolyte regulation strategy is proposed by adding fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and LiPOF as electrolyte additives in carbonate-based electrolytes to address the above issues.

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  • The solid electrolyte interface (SEI) is crucial for enhancing the performance and longevity of graphite anodes in batteries, affecting both Coulombic efficiency (CE) and cycling stability.
  • Regenerating graphite anodes typically destroys existing SEIs and residual lithium, hampering effective reuse; however, a new fast-heating method can transform the SEI while preserving lithium for better performance.
  • This upcycling strategy not only improves the graphite's initial CE and energy density significantly but also offers economic and environmental advantages by turning waste materials into valuable prelithiated anodes.
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  • - Using LiS cathodes allows for pairing with Li-free anodes like graphite, avoiding issues found in Li-S batteries, such as safety and performance problems due to anode materials.
  • - The formation of an air-stable LiSnS layer on LiS particles helps improve the stability and performance of the battery by protecting against moisture and enhancing charge transfer.
  • - A pouch cell with a LiS@LiSnS cathode demonstrated impressive performance, retaining 97% of its capacity after 100 charging cycles, indicating strong potential for practical applications.
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Lithium (Li) metal electrodes show significantly different reversibility in the electrolytes with different salts. However, the understanding on how the salts impact on the Li loss remains unclear. Herein, using the electrolytes with different salts (e.

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  • In conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), active lithium ions are consumed during the formation of a protective layer, leading to reduced energy density, which can be compensated using prelithiation additives.
  • Lithium selenide (LiSe) is proposed as a new prelithiation additive because it provides additional lithium without causing gas release or compatibility issues with common electrolytes.
  • The addition of 6 wt % LiSe to LiFePO (LFP) cathodes results in a 9% increase in specific capacity and a 19.8% increase in energy density, demonstrating LiSe's effectiveness as a prelithiation solution for enhancing LIB performance.
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Stable zinc (Zn)/electrolyte interface is critical for developing rechargeable aqueous Zn-metal batteries with long-term stability, which requires the dense and stable Zn electrodeposition. Herein, an interfacial lattice locking (ILL) layer is constructed via the electro-codeposition of Zn and Cu onto the Zn electrodes. The ILL layer shows a low lattice misfit (δ = 0.

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The use of non-solvating, or as-called sparingly-solvating, electrolytes (NSEs), is regarded as one of the most promising solutions to the obstacles to the practical applications of Li-S batteries. However, it remains a puzzle that long-life Li-S batteries have rarely, if not never, been reported with NSEs, despite their good compatibility with Li anode. Here, we find the capacity decay of Li-S batteries in NSEs is mainly due to the accumulation of the dead Li S at the cathode side, rather than the degradation of the anodes or electrolytes.

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Li-ion batteries (LIBs) that can operate under low temperature (LT) conditions are essential for applications in orbital missions, subsea areas, and electric vehicles. Unfortunately, severe capacity loss is witnessed due to tremendous kinetic barriers that emerge at LT. Herein, to surmount such kinetic limitations, a low dielectric environment is tamed throughout the bulk electrolyte, which efficaciously brought the Li desolvation energy down to 30.

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