Progress and Trends in Nonaqueous Rechargeable Aluminum Batteries

Abstract

that equipping Al negative electrode with decent positive electrodes, operable separator and excellent electrolyte to achieve transformation reversibly is an issue.Al-based batteries have been researched for more than 160 years, [20] including Al-air batteries and rechargeable aluminum batteries (RABs). The RABs can be divided into aqueous RABs and nonaqueous RABs according to the type of the electrolyte. Considering the low cyclic stability and inferior performance of the Al-air batteries [21] and the narrow potential window of the aqueous RABs [22][23] caused by the decomposition voltage of water (1.23 V), the above mentioned two systems aren't discussed in this paper. Security and the low cost of nonaqueous RABs are regarded as potential energy storage devices. The first functional RAB with Al as the negative electrode was reported in 2011, which exhibited an initial capacity of 305 mA h g −1 . But there was only ≈0.55 V of discharging voltage plateau. [24] In 2015, Sun et al. adopted carbon paper as the positive electrode in RABs creatively, which resulted in an improved average voltage plateau of 1.8 V, the potential application of RABs with prospective energy density aroused the interests of scholars and merchants. [25] In 2015, Lin et al. [26] assembled RABs with Al foil as the negative electrode, 3D graphitic foam as the positive electrode, AlCl 3 /[EMIm]Cl as the electrolyte. The RABs charged and discharged more than 7500 cycles at 4 A g −1 without capacity decay. Since then, many researchers have been turning their eyes to RABs. As can be seen in Figure 2, the positive electrode materials and electrolytes have been devoted increasing attentions year by year and the overall performance of RABs could be further improved by exploring new positive electrode materials and electrolytes. [27] RABs have been achieved great accomplishments after continuous investment. However, some issues are hampering the development of RABs. For instance, the blurry mechanism of RABs, the inferior energy density of the positive electrodes, and the difficulties brought up by corrosion of electrolytes. [28] In addition, the high cost of separators and electrolytes are challenges for commercialization. In this work, the developments of RABs are reviewed, covering exploration and characterization of the mechanism, design criteria, and research status of the components (positive electrodes, electrolytes, negative electrodes, separators, and current collectors) of RABs. Remarkably, the overall performance (energy density, cyclic stability, power density, security, ecofriendliness, and flexibility) of RABs are evaluated from the view of devices. The outlook for boosting the development of RABs is proposed subsequently. It is important to research new energy storage technology for substituting the deficiencies of current energy storage devices, i.e., the poor energy density of lead-acid batteries, the high cost of lithium-ion batteries, etc. Rechargeable aluminum batteries (RABs) are regarded as one of the most promising storage devic...

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