DOI: 10.1002/adma.202306580 ISSN:

Activating Selenium Cathode Chemistry for Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries

Fuhan Cui, Rui Pan, Lin Su, Chongyang Zhu, Hezhe Lin, Ruqian Lian, Ruining Fu, Guoju Zhang, Zhenjing Jiang, XueChen Hu, Yuchen Pan, Shisheng Hou, Fuchun Zhang, Kai Zhu, Yanhao Dong, Feng Xu
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • General Materials Science

Abstract

Aqueous rechargeable zinc‐ion batteries (ARZIBs) are a promising next‐generation energy storage device by virtue of the superior safety and low cost of both the aqueous electrolyte and zinc metal anode. However, their development has been hindered by the lack of suitable cathodes with high volumetric capacity that can provide both lightweight and compact size. Herein we report a novel cathode chemistry based on amorphous Se doped with transition metal Ru that mitigates the resistive surface layer produced by the side reactions between the Se cathode and aqueous electrolyte. This improvement can permit high volumetric capacity in this system. Distinct from conventional conversion mechanisms between Se and ZnSe in Se||Zn cells, this strategy realizes synchronous proton and Zn2+ intercalation/deintercalation in the Ru‐doped amorphous Se||Zn half cells. Moreover, an unanticipated Zn2+ deposition/stripping process in this system further contributes to the superior electrochemical performance of this new cathode chemistry. Consequently, the Ru‐doped amorphous Se||Zn half cells are found to deliver a record‐high capacity of 721 mAh g−1/3472 mAh cm−3, and superior cycling stability of over 800 cycles with only 0.015% capacity decay per cycle. This reported work opens the door for new chemistries that can further improve the gravimetric and volumetric capacity of ARZIBs.

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