“Water-in-deep eutectic solvent” electrolytes enable zinc metal anodes for rechargeable aqueous batteries

By Jingwen Zhao, Jian Zhang, Wuhai Yang, Bingbing Chen, Zhiming Zhao, Huayu Qiu, Shanmu Dong, Xin-hong Zhou, G. Cui, Liquan Chen. Nano Energy, 2019

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Abstract Metallic zinc (Zn) is one of the most promising anodes for aqueous batteries, but so far its applicability for rechargeable systems remains elusive, mainly owing to the free water-induced parasitic reactions. Here, we report a new “water-in-deep eutectic solvent (water-in-DES)” electrolyte (~30 mol.% H2O in a eutectic mixture of urea/LiTFSI/Zn(TFSI)2; TFSI, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide), in which all water molecules participate in DES's internal interaction (H-bonding and coordinating) network, leading to a suppressed reactivity with Zn anode from both thermodynamic and electrochemical aspects. Inheriting characteristics from aqueous and DES media, this electrolyte enables stable and reversible Zn plating/stripping with over twentyfold enhancement in cycling life compared to routine aqueous electrolytes, even at low rates. With these merits, a desirable rechargeability (>90% capacity retention after 300 cycles at 0.1 C) is achieved for a 1.92 V (average dicharge voltage) Zn/LiMn2O4 battery, together with a practical energy density of 52 Wh/kg (pouch cell, 2 Ah, ~9.8 × excess Zn on anode).

Subfields: Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d8894ec9b6c574970950e58696944da3058f94d9

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