Prototypical Study of Double-Layered Cathodes for Aqueous Rechargeable Static Zn-I<sub>2</sub> Batteries.

Lin, Dun; Rao, Dewei; Chiovoloni, Samuel; Wang, Shanwen; Lu, Jennifer Q; Li, Yat · Nano Lett · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Aqueous rechargeable zinc-iodine batteries (ZIBs) are promising candidates for grid energy storage because they are safe and low-cost and have high energy density. However, the shuttling of highly soluble triiodide ions severely limits the device's Coulombic efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time a double-layered cathode configuration with a conductive layer (CL) coupled with an adsorptive layer (AL) for ZIBs. This unique cathode structure enables the formation and reduction of adsorbed I<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> ions at the CL/AL interface, successfully suppressing triiodide ion shuttling. A prototypical ZIB using a carbon cloth as the CL and a polypyrrole layer as the AL simultaneously achieves outstanding Coulombic efficiency (up to 95.6%) and voltage efficiency (up to 91.3%) in the aqueous ZnI<sub>2</sub> electrolyte even at high-rate intermittent charging/discharging, without the need of ion selective membranes. These findings provide new insights to the design and fabrication of ZIBs and other batteries based on conversion reactions.