Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) have attracted strong attention for widespread applications because of their safety, cheapness and ecological amiability. Nevertheless, challenges exist at the Zn anode such as the side reactions. Here, a small amount of sulfolane (SL) (1 vol%) was added into the typical ZnSO4 electrolyte as an additive. Detailed studies shown that SL adjusts the solvation structure of Zn2+, reduces the water activity and regulates the Zn deposition. Consequently, the side reactions are suppressed. Therefore, with only addition of 1% SL, the symmetric cells exhibit long cycling lifespan of more than 2000 h and high Coulombic efficiency of 99.7% at 1 mA cm−2 and 1 mAh cm−2. Even under harsh conditions of 5 mA cm−2 and 5 mAh cm−2, the Zn anode still displays long cycling performance of 1000 h. Furthermore, Zn||MnO2 full batteries with SL/ZnSO4 electrolyte shows a high capacity of about 120 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at 0.5 A g−1.
Sodium (Na) is a promising anode material for sodium ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity and favorable redox voltage, but the dendrite growth issue limits its practical application. Herein, an artificial hybrid interface layer based on an amorphous phosphatized hybrid (a-Na3P/NaBr) is developed to facilitate a homogeneous and dendrite-free lateral growth behavior during recurring sodium plating/stripping processes. The proposed Na metal anode delivers an excellent cycling performance for over 200 cycles with an average Coulombic efficiency 99.5% under the capacity of 3 mAh cm−2. Besides, the symmetric cell also persists for over 2000 h under the same capacity. Notably, under the depth of discharge as high as 50%, the modified Na metal anode can still be stably cycled for nearly 350 h, showing much superior performance to the bare Na counterpart. Benefiting from these advantages, the full cell based on the Na anodes with this amorphous phosphatized hybrid interphase coa
Silver-zinc (Ag-Zn) batteries are a promising battery system for flexible electronics owing to their high safety, high energy density and stable output voltage. However, poor cycling performance, low areal capacity, and inferior flexibility limit the practical application of Ag-Zn batteries. Herein, we develop a flexible quasi-solid-state Ag-Zn battery system with superior performance by using mild electrolyte and binder-free electrodes. Copper foam current collector is introduced to impede the growth of Zn dendrite, and the structure of Ag cathode is engineered by electrodeposition and chloridization process to improve the areal capacity. This novel battery demonstrates a remarkable cycle retention of 90% for 200 cycles at 3 mA/cm2. More importantly, this binder-free battery can afford a high capacity of 3.5 mAh/cm2 at 3 mA/cm2, an outstanding power density of 2.42 mW/cm2, and a maximum energy density of 3.4 mWh/cm2. An energy management circuit is adopted to boost the output volta
Owing to several advantages of metallic sodium (Na), such as a relatively high theoretical capacity, low redox potential, wide availability, and low cost, Na metal batteries are being extensively studied, which are expected to play a major role in the fields of electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage. Although considerable efforts have been devoted to utilizing MXene-based materials for suppressing Na dendrites, achieving a stable cycling of Na metal anodes remains extremely challenging due to, for example, the low Coulombic efficiency (CE) caused by the severe side reactions. Herein, a g-C3N4layer was attached in situ on the Ti3C2MXene surface, inducing a surface state reconstruction and thus forming a stable hetero-interphase with excellent sodiophilicity between the MXene and g-C3N4to inhibit side reactions and guide uniform Na ion flux. The 3D construction can not only lower the local current density to facilitate uniform Na plating/stripping but also mitigate volume change
Room temperature sodium-ion batteries are the most likely alternative to lithium-ion batteries, and are considered one of the most promising candidates for large-scale energy storage. On the anode side, metallic sodium, with an ultra-high theoretical capacity and a low redox potential, has been considered the most promising material for batteries with a high energy density. However, the use of a sodium metal anode has met some challenging problems, such as the growth of sodium dendrites, side reactions between sodium metal and the electrolyte, and large volume changes during charge and discharge. Among them, the growth of sodium dendrites not only produces "dead" sodium and accelerates side reactions, leading to a rapid capacity decay, but the dendrites may also pierce the separators, causing serious safety problems such as fire and battery explosion. Carbon-based materials are a large family, with a high mechanical strength, low density, high conductivity, large specific sur