Benchmarking Corrosion with Anionic Polarity Index for Stable and Fast Aqueous Batteries Even in Low‐Concentration Electrolyte
Abstract
Abstract Despite aqueous electrolyte endowing batteries with the merits of safe operation, low‐cost fabrication, and high ionic conductivity, water‐induced corrosion, including spontaneous chemical and electrochemical hydrogen evolution corrosion, adversely affects lifespan and rate capability. There is still a lack of selection criteria for benchmarking corrosion behavior qualitatively. Through theoretical simulation, an anionic polarity index (API) tactic is proposed to resist corrosion by manipulating interfacial and solvated water concomitantly, thus realizing stable and fast Zn aqueous batteries (ZABs). As proof of concept, a low‐cost zinc salt of 0.5 m zinc bis(4‐hydroxybenzenesulphonate) (Zn(HBS) 2 ) with low‐API anion is prioritized. Combined in situ spectroscopic and electrochemical analyses reveal that, even in a low‐concentration electrolyte, the low‐API anion reduces interfacial water in the inner Helmholtz plane, shielding the chemical water dissociation. Meanwhile, their entering into the solvation sheath of Zn 2+ lowers the solvent‐separated ion pair, suppressing the electrochemical corrosion. The elaborated API‐screened zinc salt endows fast plating kinetics of 50 mA cm −2 (119.1 mV polarization), high coulombic efficiency of 99.8%, dendrite‐free cycling over 1600 h, and prolonged lifespan over 5000 cycles for the Zn‐V cell. The results provide new metrics that can benchmark the success of ZABs for large‐scale energy storage.
Article Details
Authors (14)
Xia Wang
Wanhai Zhou
Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Aqueous Battery Center, College of Smart Materials and Future Energy
Lipeng Wang
College of Chemistry and Materials, Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Advanced Materials
Yanyan Zhang
Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Aqueous Battery Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Electron Microscope Center of Fudan University, Shanghai Wusong Laboratory of Materials Science, and Faculty of Chemistry and Materials
Sirui Li
Xinran Li
Zaiwang Zhao
College of Energy Materials and Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Tengsheng Zhang
Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Aqueous Battery Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Electron Microscope Center of Fudan University, Shanghai Wusong Laboratory of Materials Science, and Faculty of Chemistry and Materials
Hongrun Jin
Xinxin Song
Pei Liang
College of Optical and Electronic Technology China Jiliang University Hangzhou P. R. China
Bao Zhang
School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
Dongyuan Zhao
Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, State Key Laboratory of Porous Materials for Separation and Conversion, Fudan University, 220 Handan, Shanghai 200433, P. R. China
Dongliang Chao
Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Aqueous Battery Center, College of Smart Materials and Future Energy