Issue 5, 2023

Creating water-in-salt-like environment using coordinating anions in non-concentrated aqueous electrolytes for efficient Zn batteries

Abstract

Rechargeable aqueous Zn metal batteries are promising systems for grid storage because of their high energy density, low cost, and non-flammability. However, Zn metal anodes have major limitations due to dendrite formation and concurrent water splitting during charge–discharge cycling. Both processes negatively affect coulombic efficiency (CE) and long-term cycling stability. Water-in-salt (WIS) electrolytes were previously proposed to address these challenges, yielding improvements in the cycling stability of Zn metal anodes. While WIS electrolytes help increase CE, they require high amounts of salt (often toxic) and have dramatically increased viscosity, which in turn limit their transport properties, charge–discharge rates, and usability in advanced Zn batteries. In this manuscript, we propose a strategy for simultaneously achieving high CE (>99%), high rate, low cost and reduced environmental footprint. Specifically, we show that by using coordinating anions like acetate a WIS-like Zn coordination environment can be achieved even in relatively dilute conditions, enabling prolonged cycling of Zn metal anodes. Such electrolytes have an order of magnitude higher conductivity and lower viscosity than traditional WIS electrolytes, thus enabling lower overpotentials and higher rate of Zn plating/stripping.

Graphical abstract: Creating water-in-salt-like environment using coordinating anions in non-concentrated aqueous electrolytes for efficient Zn batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Jan 2023
Accepted
01 Mar 2023
First published
13 Mar 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Energy Environ. Sci., 2023,16, 1982-1991

Creating water-in-salt-like environment using coordinating anions in non-concentrated aqueous electrolytes for efficient Zn batteries

D. Gomez Vazquez, T. P. Pollard, J. Mars, J. M. Yoo, H. Steinrück, S. E. Bone, O. V. Safonova, M. F. Toney, O. Borodin and M. R. Lukatskaya, Energy Environ. Sci., 2023, 16, 1982 DOI: 10.1039/D3EE00205E

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