Copper Foil Substrate Enables Planar Indium Plating for Ultrahigh‐Efficiency and Long‐Lifespan Aqueous Trivalent Metal Batteries

• Published in: Advanced functional materials
• Main Authors: Chang, Songyang, Lu, Linguo, Ullah, Irfan, Hou, Wentao, Florez Gomez, Jose Fernando, Conde‐Delmoral, Amanda, Font Marin, Clara M., Morell, Gerardo, Chen, Zhongfang, Wu, Xianyong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 02.07.2024
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202407342

Abstract Aqueous trivalent metal batteries represent a compelling candidate for energy storage due to the intriguing three‐electron transfer reaction and the distinct properties of trivalent cations. However, little research progress has been achieved with trivalent batteries due to the inappropriate redox potentials and drastic ion hydrolysis side reactions. Herein, the appealing yet underrepresented trivalent indium is selected as an advanced metal choice and the crucial effect of substrate on its plating mechanism is revealed. When copper foil is used, an indiophilic indium‐copper alloy interface can be formed in situ upon plating, exhibiting favorable binding energies and low diffusion energy barriers for indium atoms. Consequently, a planar, smooth, and dense indium metal layer is uniformly deposited on the copper substrate, leading to outstanding plating efficiency (99.8–99.9%) and an exceedingly long lifespan (6.4–7.4 months). The plated indium anode is further paired with a high‐mass‐loading Prussian blue cathode (2 mAh cm −2 ), and the full cell (negative/positive electrode capacity, N/P = 2.5) delivers an excellent cycling life of 1000 cycles with 72% retention. This work represents a significant advancement in the development of high‐performance trivalent metal batteries.