%J Energy & Environmental Science
%K Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Chemistry, Multidisciplinary, Energy & Fuels, Engineering, Chemical, Environmental Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, Environmental Sciences & Ecology, WATER
%L discovery10170177
%I ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
%O This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
%X Despite their cost-effectiveness and intrinsic safety, aqueous zinc-ion batteries have faced challenges with poor reversibility originating from various active water-induced side reactions. After systematically scrutinizing the effects of water on the evolution of solvation structures, electrolyte properties, and electrochemical performances through experimental and theoretical approaches, a hydrated deep eutectic electrolyte with a water-deficient solvation structure ([Zn(H2O)2(eg)2(otf)2]) and reduced free water content in the bulk solution is proposed in this work. This electrolyte can dramatically suppress water-induced side reactions and provide high Zn2+ mass transfer kinetics, resulting in highly reversible Zn anodes (∼99.6% Coulombic efficiency over 1000 cycles and stable cycling over 4500 h) and high capacity Zn//NVO full cells (436 mA h g−1). This work will aid the understanding of electrolyte solvation structure–electrolyte property–electrochemical performance relationships of aqueous electrolytes in aqueous zinc-ion batteries.
%T A hydrated deep eutectic electrolyte with finely-tuned solvation chemistry for high-performance zinc-ion batteries
%A Ruwei Chen
%A Chengyi Zhang
%A Jianwei Li
%A Zijuan Du
%A Fei Guo
%A Wei Zhang
%A Yuhang Dai
%A Wei Zong
%A Xuan Gao
%A Jiexin Zhu
%A Yan Zhao
%A Xiaohui Wang
%A Guanjie He
%D 2023