Stable Quasi‐Solid‐State Aluminum Batteries

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 34; no. 8; pp. e2104557 - n/a
• Main Authors: Huang, Zheng, Song, Wei‐Li, Liu, Yingjun, Wang, Wei, Wang, Mingyong, Ge, Jianbang, Jiao, Handong, Jiao, Shuqiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2022
• Subjects: Aluminum; aluminum batteries; Electrode materials; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Energy storage; highly stable and safe batteries; Interface stability; Ionic liquids; Materials science; Metal-organic frameworks; Moisture; quasi‐solid‐state electrolytes; Rechargeable batteries; Storage batteries; highly stable and safe batteries; aluminum batteries; quasi-solid-state electrolytes; metal-organic frameworks
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202104557
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095

Nonaqueous rechargeable aluminum batteries (RABs) of low cost and high safety are promising for next‐generation energy storage. With the presence of ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes, their high moisture sensitivity and poor stability would lead to critical issues in liquid RABs, including undesirable gas production, irreversible activity loss, and an unstable electrode interface, undermining the operation stability. To address such issues, herein, a stable quasi‐solid‐state electrolyte is developed via encapsulating a small amount of an IL into a metal–organic framework, which not only protects the IL from moisture, but creates sufficient ionic transport network between the active materials and the electrolyte. Owing to the generated stable states at both positive‐electrode–electrolyte and negative‐electrode–electrolyte interfaces, the as‐assembled quasi‐solid‐state Al–graphite batteries deliver specific capacity of ≈75 mA h g−1 (with positive electrode material loading ≈9 mg cm−2, much higher than that in the conventional liquid systems). The batteries present a long‐term cycling stability beyond 2000 cycles, with great stability even upon exposure to air within 2 h and under flame combustion tests. Such technology opens a new platform of designing highly safe rechargeable Al batteries for stable energy storage. Stable quasi‐solid‐state aluminum batteries are constructed using quasi‐solid‐state electrolyte with high air stability, still operating well when exposed to air and if burning in fire, revealing a long‐term air stability and high safety. The results offer a novel approach for designing highly stable and safe aluminum batteries, providing a feasible strategy to boost applications in grid‐scale energy storage.