Designing interphases for practical aqueous zinc flow batteries with high power density and high areal capacity

Abstract

Aqueous zinc flow batteries (AZFBs) with high power density and high areal capacity are attractive, both in terms of cost and safety. A number of fundamental challenges associated with out-of-plane growth and undesirable side reactions on the anode side, as well as sluggish reaction kinetics and active material loss on the cathode side, limit practical deployment of these batteries. We investigated artificial interphases created using a simple electrospray methodology as a strategy for addressing each of these challenges. The effectiveness of the electrospray interphases in full cell zinc-iodine flow batteries was evaluated and reported; it is possible to simultaneously achieve high power density [115 milliwatts per square centimeter (mW/cm 2 )] and high areal capacity [25 milliampere hour per square centimeter (mA·hour/cm 2 )]. Last, we extended it to aqueous zinc-bromine and zinc-vanadium flow batteries of contemporary interest. It is again found that high power density (255 and 260 mW/cm 2 , respectively) and high areal capacity (20 mA·hour/cm 2 ) can be simultaneously achieved in AZFBs.

Nonepitaxial Electrodeposition of (002)‐Textured Zn Anode on Textureless Substrates for Dendrite‐Free and Hydrogen Evolution‐Suppressed Zn Batteries

“…Starting from the pioneering work by Archer et al, extensive interests have been recently drawn to tuning the substrate characteristics for highly (002)‐textured Zn electroplating. [ 1,38 ] The electrode substrate with minimum lattice misfit to Zn(002) facet is thermodynamically favorable for nucleation and growth of strongly (002)‐textured Zn, due to both minimized interface energy and surface energy. Obviously, a Zn substrate with already (002) texture is one easy choice, as also demonstrated recently by the epitaxial Zn electrodeposition on Zn (002) single crystals, [ 39,40 ] thermally‐annealed Zn foil, [ 12 ] and Zn foil processed by accumulative roll bonding.…”

Unraveling the deposition/dissolution chemistry of MnO2 for high-energy aqueous batteries

“…Under current circumstances, aqueous rechargeable batteries (ARBs) have seen a revival because of their inherently low cost, high safety and excellent environmental friendliness. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ) has been used as one of the most promising cathode materials for ARBs over the past few decades, due to its abundance, nontoxicity, flexible redox chemistry and high redox potentials. [13][14][15][16][17][18] During discharge, the Mn(IV) in MnO 2 is reduced to Mn(III) and/or Mn(II).…”

“…Under current circumstances, aqueous rechargeable batteries (ARBs) have seen a revival because of their inherently low cost, high safety and excellent environmental friendliness. 5–12…”

7.9 µm Turing Membranes with High Ion Conductivity for High Power Density Zinc‐Based Flow Battery

“…Large-scale energy storage devices, flow batteries (FBs) in particular, provide degrees of freedom for storage capacity and power, [1] DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202300779 and are essential for managing intermittency and seasonality of renewable energies. Among the reported FBs, zincflow batteries (ZFBs) are one of the most promising for stationary energy storage.…”