Dual-structure-breaking electrolyte enables practical cadmium-metal battery

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 5619 - 14
• Main Authors: Cui, Yang-Feng, Song, Hao-Bin, Yao, Jing-Jing, Hao, Qi, Li, Xue-Liang, Li, Yi-Fan, Guo, Bin-Bin, Zhu, Yun-Hai, Yang, Hui Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.07.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/299/891; 639/4077/4079/891; 639/638/161/891; 639/638/675; Alternative energy sources; Ammonium chloride; Batteries; Cadmium; Capacitance; Charge transfer; Corrosion; Corrosion resistance; Dendrites; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Energy resources; Energy storage; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogen; Kinetics; Metals; multidisciplinary; Plating; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sustainable energy; Viscosity
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60740-2

High-energy aqueous metal batteries are promising candidates for the next-generation energy storage systems but face critical challenges of dendrite and corrosion in metal negative electrodes. To address these issues, we report an aqueous cadmium-metal battery employing a fast-kinetics structure-breaking electrolyte composed of CdCl 2 and NH 4 Cl. The addition of NH 4 Cl induces the formation of dual structure breakers, NH 4 + and tetrachlorocomplex ([CdCl 4 ] 2– ), which facilitate fast charge transfer kinetics in aqueous cadmium-metal batteries and endow dendrite-free/corrosion-resistant capabilities to Cd negative electrodes. This tailored electrolyte realizes a convincing Coulombic efficiency (99.93%) for Cd plating/stripping behavior at a high Cd utilization of 55%, making it suitable for practical applications. Moreover, the fast-kinetics aqueous cadmium-metal batteries exhibit remarkable compatibility with diverse types of positive electrodes, including conversion-, coordination-, intercalation- and capacitance-type, offering enhanced rate performance and durable rechargeable stability. These results establish a robust and scalable aqueous battery design for sustainable energy storage systems. High-energy aqueous metal batteries are promising candidates for the next-generation energy storage systems yet face detrimental parasitic reactions. Here, authors develop a durable cadmium-metal battery employing a fast-kinetics dual-structure-breaking electrolyte.