Reducing Water Activity by Zeolite Molecular Sieve Membrane for Long‐Life Rechargeable Zinc Battery

Abstract

Aqueous electrolytes offer major advantages in safe battery operation, green economy, and low production cost for advanced battery technology. However, strong water activity in aqueous electrolytes provokes a hydrogen evolution reaction and parasitic passivation on electrodes, leaving poor ion‐transport in the electrolyte/electrode interface. Herein, a zeolite molecular sieve‐modified (zeolite‐modified) aqueous electrolyte is proposed to reduce water activity and its side‐reaction. First, Raman spectroscopy reveals a highly aggressive solvation configuration and significantly suppressed water activity toward single water molecule. Then less hydrogen evolution and anti‐corrosion ability of zeolite‐modified electrolyte by simulation and electrochemical characterizations are identified. Consequently, a zinc (Zn) anode involves less side‐reaction, and develops into a compact deposition morphology, as proved by space‐resolution characterizations. Moreover, zeolite‐modified electrolyte favors cyclic life of symmetric Zn||Zn cells to 4765 h at 0.8 mA cm−2, zinc‐VO2 coin cell to 3000 cycles, and pouch cell to 100 cycles. Finally, the mature production technique and low‐cost of zeolite molecular sieve would tremendously favor the future scale‐up application in engineering aspect.

Highly reversible zinc metal anodes enabled by protonated melamine

“…Remarkably, an ultrahigh CPC of 3 Ah cm À2 is obtained at a current density of 2 mA cm À2 for ZnjZn symmetric cells cycled in Mel/ZnSO 4 electrolyte, which exceeds that of the previous studies focusing on electrolyte additives. 14,17,18,33,[36][37][38] To further demonstrate its superiority, we have also compared this CPC value with those of other representative studies using other strategies. As expected, the dominant performance is further conrmed in Table S1.…”

Recent progress, mechanisms, and perspectives for crystal and interface chemistry applying to the Zn metal anodes in aqueous zinc‐ion batteries

“…What benefits from the minor water decomposition ignited by zeolite‐doped electrolyte is that few products would form on the surface. More importantly, the morphology of thickset Zn deposition is observed clearly rather than the distinct flake or protrusion dendrites on the Zn anode, demonstrating the superior reversibility of the Zn plating/stripping process 94 …”

“…More importantly, the morphology of thickset Zn deposition is observed clearly rather than the distinct flake or protrusion dendrites on the Zn anode, demonstrating the superior reversibility of the Zn plating/stripping process. 94 Contact between two different phases would produce an electric potential, which is caused by the separation of charges. The excess charge existing in two phases has an equal amount of positive and negative charge which attracts each other and finally forms a double electric layer.…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [94] Copyright 2021, Wiley. (B) The schematic illustration of water-poor EDL structure realized by the introduction of saccharin additive.…”

Implications of the BATTERY 2030+ AI‐Assisted Toolkit on Future Low‐TRL Battery Discoveries and Chemistries

“…[ 165 ] The search for more efficient RMs [ 172 ] can be accelerated by molecular embeddings, [ 173 ] enabling inverse design. Other concepts like aqueous lithium‐oxygen [ 174 ] dual‐carbon electrode architectures, [ 175 ] Na, [ 176 ] K, Mg, Al, and Zn‐oxygen would also benefit from the integrated framework outlined above.…”