Modulating electrolyte structure for ultralow temperature aqueous zinc batteries

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 4463
• Main Authors: Zhang, Qiu, Ma, Yilin, Lu, Yong, Li, Lin, Wan, Fang, Zhang, Kai, Chen, Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.09.2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 140/133; 639/301/299/891; 639/4077/4079/891; Aqueous electrolytes; Batteries; Cost analysis; Earth surface; Electrolytes; Energy storage; Humanities and Social Sciences; Low cost; Low temperature; multidisciplinary; Polyanilines; Rechargeable batteries; Safety; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Storage batteries; Transition temperature; Transition temperatures; Work capacity; Zinc chloride
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18284-0

Rechargeable aqueous batteries are an up-and-coming system for potential large-scale energy storage due to their high safety and low cost. However, the freeze of aqueous electrolyte limits the low-temperature operation of such batteries. Here, we report the breakage of original hydrogen-bond network in ZnCl 2 solution by modulating electrolyte structure, and thus suppressing the freeze of water and depressing the solid-liquid transition temperature of the aqueous electrolyte from 0 to –114 °C. This ZnCl 2 -based low-temperature electrolyte renders polyaniline||Zn batteries available to operate in an ultra-wide temperature range from –90 to +60 °C, which covers the earth surface temperature in record. Such polyaniline||Zn batteries are robust at –70 °C (84.9 mA h g −1 ) and stable during over 2000 cycles with ~100% capacity retention. This work significantly provides an effective strategy to propel low-temperature aqueous batteries via tuning the electrolyte structure and widens the application range of temperature adaptation of aqueous batteries. Rechargeable aqueous batteries are promising for potential large-scale energy storage due to their high safety and low cost. Here the authors analyse a zinc chloride based low-temperature electrolyte for improving practicability of the aqueous batteries.