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In recent years, aqueous rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (ARLIBs) have attracted attention as an alternative technology for electrical storage. One of the perspective battery anode materials for application in ARLIBs is Bi2Se3, which has already shown good perspectives in the application of conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that use organic electrolytes. In this study, the electrochemical properties of Bi2Se3 thin films with two different layers on the electrode surface—the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and the Bi2O3 layer—were investigated. The results of this work show that the formation of the SEI layer on the surface of Bi2Se3 thin films ensures high diffusivity of Li+, high electrochemical stability, and high capacity up to 100 cycles, demonstrating the perspectives of Bi2Se3 as anode material for ARLIBs.

The paper reports the results of the measurement of surface tension in binary liquid mixtures containing choline chloride, ethylene glycol and water and ternary mixtures of ethaline (a eutectic mixture of ethylene glycol and choline chloride, the so-called deep eutectic solvent) with water. The surface tension is determined in a wide range of components’ concentration for the temperatures of 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C. The dependences of surface tension on the concentration of liquids are treated by means of Gibbs adsorption isotherm and linear form of Langmuir adsorption isotherms. The values of the equilibrium constant of adsorption at the interface liquid solution/air as well as the standard adsorption Gibbs energy, enthalpy and entropy are calculated for the binary and ternary mixtures under consideration. The obtained results are interpreted in the light of intermolecular interactions in fluids. Our findings show that ethylene glycol and choline cation interact with each other in the adsorbed surface layer formed at the interface between air and diluted solutions of ethaline.

The changes in global energy trends and the high demand for secondary power sources, have led to a renewed interest in aqueous lithium-ion batteries. The selection of a suitable anode for aqueous media is a difficult task because many anode materials have poor cycling performance due to side reactions with water or dissolved oxygen. An effective method for improving the characteristics of anodes in aqueous electrolyte solutions is adding carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to the electrode materials. For a better comprehension of the mechanism of energy accumulation and the reasons for the loss of capacity during the cycling of chemical current sources, it is necessary to understand the behaviour of the constituent components of the anodes. Although CNTs are well studied theoretically and experimentally, there is no information about their behaviour in aqueous solutions during the intercalation/deintercalation of lithium ions. This work reveals the mechanism of operation of untreated and annealed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) anodes during the intercalation/deintercalation of Li+ from an aqueous 5 M LiNO3 electrolyte. The presence of -COOH groups on the surface of untreated SWCNTs is the reason for the low discharge capacity of the SWCNT anode in 5 M LiNO3 (3 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles). Their performance was improved by annealing in a hydrogen atmosphere, which selectively removed the -COOH groups and increased the discharge capacity of SWCNT by a factor of 10 (33 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles).