Sorbitol-Electrolyte-Additive Based Reversible Zinc Electrochemistry

Authors

Qiong Sun, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
Hai-Hui Du, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
Tian-Jiang Sun, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
Dian-Tao Li, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
Min Cheng, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
Jing Liang, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, ChinaFollow
Hai-Xia Li, a Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China; b Key Laboratory of Advanced Electrode Materials for Novel Solar Cells for Petroleum and Chemical Industry of China, School of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, Jiangsu, ChinaFollow
Zhan-Liang Tao, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

Corresponding Author

Jing Liang(liangjing@nankai.edu.cn),
Hai-Xia Li(lihaixia@nankai.edu.cn)

Abstract

The unstable zinc (Zn)/electrolyte interfaces formed by undesired dendrites and parasitic side reactions greatly hinder the development of aqueous zinc ion batteries. Herein, the hydroxy-rich sorbitol was used as an additive to reshape the solvation structure and modulate the interface chemistry. The strong interactions among sorbitol and both water molecules and Zn electrode can reduce the free water activity, optimize the solvation shell of water and Zn²⁺ ions, and regulate the formation of local water (H₂O)-poor environment on the surface of Zn electrode, which effectively inhibit the decomposition of water molecules, and thus, achieve the thermodynamically stable and highly reversible Zn electrochemistry. As a result, the assembled Zn/Zn symmetric cells with the sorbitol additive realized an excellent cycling life of 2000 h at 1 mA·cm^–2 and 1 mAh·cm^–2, and over 250 h at 5 mA·cm^–2 and 5 mAh·cm^–2. Moreover, the Zn/Cu asymmetric cells with the sorbitol additive achieved a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.6%, obtaining a better performance than that with a pure 2 mol·L^–1 ZnSO₄ electrolyte. And the constructed Zn/poly1, 5-naphthalenediamine (PNDA) batteries could be stably discharged for 2300 cycles at 1 A·g^–1 with an excellent capacity retention rate. This result indicates that the addition of 1 mol·L^–1 non-toxic sorbitol into a conventional ZnSO₄ electrolyte can successfully protect the Zn anode interface by improving the electrochemical properties of Zn reversible deposition/decomposition, which greatly promotes its cycle performance, providing a new approach in future development of high performance aqueous Zn ion batteries.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Aqueous zinc ion batteries; Dendrite; Sorbitol additive; Solvation regulation; Interface modulation

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.61558/2993-074X.3447

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Date

2024-07-28

Online Available Date

2024-02-28

Revised Date

2024-02-18

Received Date

2023-11-29

Recommended Citation

Qiong Sun, Hai-Hui Du, Tian-Jiang Sun, Dian-Tao Li, Min Cheng, Jing Liang, Hai-Xia Li, Zhan-Liang Tao. Sorbitol-Electrolyte-Additive Based Reversible Zinc Electrochemistry[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2024 , 30(7): 2314002.
DOI: 10.61558/2993-074X.3447
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol30/iss7/2