Anchoring Unimolecular Metal Chloride as a Sterically Active Site for Conformal Zinc Electrodeposition.

Aqueous zinc ion batteries are promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems. However, the practical application of zinc metal anodes is hindered by the challenge of uncontrollable zinc-dendrite growth. Herein, axial-coordinated manganese single atoms, anchored by N, Cl co-coordinating on self-standing carbon nanofibers, are designed to guide uniform Zn deposition.

Biomimetic Localized Gel Electrolyte for Practical Zinc Anode.

Incompatible electrode/electrolyte interface often leads to dendrite growth, parasitic reactions, and corrosion, posing significant challenges to the application of Zn anodes. Herein, we introduce a biomimetic antifreeze protein localized gel electrolyte (ALGE) with multifunctional capabilities to address these issues by combining electrolyte modification with interface optimization. ALGE modifies the Zn solvation structure and the hydrogen-bond network adjacent to the zinc anode, effectively suppressing hydrogen evolution.

Iodine-Doped Sodium Vanadate Cathode for Improved Zn Ion Diffusion Kinetics.

The electrostatic interaction between zinc ions and the host structure significantly limits the practicality of vanadium-based cathodes in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). Herein, an anion doping strategy is demonstrated to mitigate electrostatic resistance and steric hindrance during zinc ion insertion by incorporating iodine atoms into the lattice of the cathode material, NaVO·3HO. Iodine doping reduces the adsorption energy at the most stable site, thereby weakening the Zn-host interaction and lowering the Zn diffusion energy barrier, resulting in a one-order-of-magnitude increase in the diffusion coefficient.

Super-Concentrated Alkali Hydroxide Electrolytes for Rechargeable Zn Batteries.

Increasing the salt concentration of an electrolyte to over 10 M brings new solute-solvent interactions that define an emerging class of super-concentrated electrolytes for rechargeable batteries. To this class we introduce a super-concentrated alkaline electrolyte. Nearly saturated with KOH (at 15 M), the aqueous solution displays a broad electrochemical stability window (>2.

Utilizing MOFs Melt-Foaming to Design Functionalized Carbon Foams for 100% Deep-Discharge and Ultrahigh Capacity Sodium Metal Anodes.

Meltable metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer significant accessibility to chemistry and moldability for developing carbon-based materials. However, the scarcity of low melting point MOFs poses challenges for related design. Here, we propose a MOFs melt-foaming strategy toward Ni single atoms/quantum dots-functionalized carbon foams (NiSA/QD@CFs).

Na Storage Activity or Inertness of P-Configurations in N, P Dual-Doped Carbon Nanofibers: Bulk vs Surface.

Heteroatom doping is an effective method to improve the electrochemical properties of hard carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries. However, the different roles of surface and bulk heteroatoms in Na storage have not been explored much. Herein, N, P dual-doped carbon nanofibers (NP-CNFs) with high doping contents and low surface area are designed to clarify the above issue.