Long cycle-life aqueous Zn battery enabled by facile carbon nanotube coating on Cu current collector

Abstract

As an alternative to Li-ion batteries, aqueous Zn batteries have gained attention due to the abundance of Zn metal, low reduction potential (–0.76 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode), and high theoretical capacity (820 mAh g^–1) of multivalent Zn²⁺ ion. However, the growth of Zn dendrites and the formation of irreversible surface reaction byproducts pose challenges for ensuring a long battery lifespan and commercialization. Herein, the Cu foil coated with a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) layer using a facile doctor blade casting method is utilized. The SWCNT-coated Cu foil demonstrates a significantly longer battery lifespan compared to the bare Cu in the half-cell tests. Through operando optical microscopy imaging, we are able to provide intuitive evidence that Zn deposition occurs between the carbon nanotube (CNT) coating and Cu substrate, in agreement with the computational results. Also, with various imaging techniques, the flat morphology and homogeneous distribution of Zn beneath the SWCNT layer are demonstrated. In addition, the full-cell using CNT-coated Cu exhibits a long cycle life compared to the control group, thereby demonstrating improved electrochemical performance with limited Zn for the cycling process.

Keywords

aqueous Zn battery / carbon nanotube / operando imaging / surface coating

References

[1] Blomgren GE. The development and future of lithium ion batteries. J Electrochem Soc. 2017; 164 (1): A5019- A5025.

[2] Diouf B, Pode R. Potential of lithium-ion batteries in renewable energy. Renewable Energy. 2015; 76: 375- 380.

[3] Dunn B, Kamath H, Tarascon JM. Electrical energy storage for the grid: a battery of choices. Science. 2011; 334 (6058): 928- 935.

[4] Grosjean C, Miranda PH, Perrin M, Poggi P. Assessment of world lithium resources and consequences of their geographic distribution on the expected development of the electric vehicle industry. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 2012; 16 (3): 1735- 1744.

[5] Martin G, Rentsch L, Höck M, Bertau M. Lithium market research—global supply, future demand and price development. Energy Storage Mater. 2017; 6: 171- 179.

[6] Suo L, Borodin O, Gao T, et al. “Water-in-salt” electrolyte enables high-voltage aqueous lithium-ion chemistries. Science. 2015; 350 (6263): 938- 943.

[7] Fang G, Zhou J, Pan A, Liang S. Recent advances in aqueous zinc-ion batteries. ACS Energy Lett. 2018; 3 (10): 2480- 2501.

[8] Chao D, Zhu CR, Song M, et al. A high-rate and stable quasi-solid-state zinc-ion battery with novel 2D layered zinc orthovanadate array. Adv Mater. 2018; 30 (32): 1803181.

[9] Wang X, Zheng S, Zhou F, et al. Scalable fabrication of printed Zn//MnO₂ planar micro-batteries with high volumetric energy density and exceptional safety. Natl Sci Rev. 2020; 7 (1): 64- 72.

[10] Wang G, Zhu M, Chen G, et al. An anode-free Zn-graphite battery. Adv Mater. 2022; 34 (29): 2201957.

[11] Zhu Y, Cui Y, Alshareef HN. An anode-free Zn-MnO₂ battery. Nano Lett. 2021; 21 (3): 1446- 1453.

[12] Ling W, Mo F, Wang J, et al. Self-healable hydrogel electrolyte for dendrite-free and self-healable zinc-based aqueous batteries. Mater Today Phys. 2021; 20: 100458.

[13] Zhao Z, Zhao J, Hu Z, et al. Long-life and deeply rechargeable aqueous Zn anodes enabled by a multifunctional brightener-inspired interphase. Energy Environ Sci. 2019; 12 (6): 1938- 1949.

[14] Dong Y, Jia M, Wang Y, et al. Long-life zinc/vanadium pentoxide battery enabled by a concentrated aqueous ZnSO₄ electrolyte with proton and zinc ion co-intercalation. ACS Appl Energy Mater. 2020; 3 (11): 11183- 11192.

[15] Yang H, Chang Z, Qiao Y, et al. Constructing a super-saturated electrolyte front surface for stable rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries. Angew Chem Int Ed. 2020; 59 (24): 9377- 9381.

[16] Wang F, Borodin O, Gao T, et al. Highly reversible zinc metal anode for aqueous batteries. Nat Mater. 2018; 17 (6): 543- 549.

[17] Zhang N, Cheng F, Liu Y, et al. Cation-deficient spinel ZnMn₂O₄ cathode in Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂ electrolyte for rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion battery. J Am Chem Soc. 2016; 138 (39): 12894- 12901.

[18] Wan F, Zhang L, Dai X, Wang X, Niu Z, Chen J. Aqueous rechargeable zinc/sodium vanadate batteries with enhanced performance from simultaneous insertion of dual carriers. Nat Commun. 2018; 9: 1656.

[19] Kang Z, Wu C, Dong L, et al. 3D porous copper skeleton supported zinc anode toward high capacity and long cycle life zinc ion batteries. ACS Sustainable Chem Eng. 2019; 7 (3): 3364- 3371.

[20] Wang LP, Li NW, Wang TS, Yin YX, Guo YG, Wang CR. Conductive graphite fiber as a stable host for zinc metal anodes. Electrochim Acta. 2017; 244: 172- 177.

[21] Yuksel R, Buyukcakir O, Seong WK, Ruoff RS. Metal-organic framework integrated anodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Adv Energy Mater. 2020; 10 (16): 1904215.

[22] Cui M, Xiao Y, Kang L, et al. Quasi-isolated Au particles as heterogeneous seeds to guide uniform Zn deposition for aqueous zinc-ion batteries. ACS Appl Energy Mater. 2019; 2 (9): 6490- 6496.

[23] Zheng J, Zhao Q, Tang T, et al. Reversible epitaxial electrodeposition of metals in battery anodes. Science. 2019; 366 (6465): 645- 648.

[24] Li Z, Wu L, Dong S, et al. Pencil drawing stable interface for reversible and durable aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Adv Funct Mater. 2021; 31 (4): 2006495.

[25] Li J, Kurra N, Seredych M, Meng X, Wang H, Gogotsi Y. Bipolar carbide-carbon high voltage aqueous lithium-ion capacitors. Nano Energy. 2019; 56: 151- 159.

[26] Zhang N, Huang S, Yuan Z, Zhu J, Zhao Z, Niu Z. Direct self-assembly of MXene on Zn anodes for dendrite-free aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Angew Chem Int Ed. 2021; 60 (6): 2861- 2865.

[27] Zhang Y, Cao Z, Liu S, et al. Charge-enriched strategy based on MXene-based polypyrrole layers toward dendrite-free zinc metal anodes. Adv Energy Mater. 2022; 12 (13): 2103979.

[28] Behabtu N, Young CC, Tsentalovich DE, et al. Strong, light, multifunctional fibers of carbon nanotubes with ultrahigh conductivity. Science. 2013; 339 (6116): 182- 186.

[29] Ramanathan T, Fisher FT, Ruoff RS, Brinson LC. Amino-functionalized carbon nanotubes for binding to polymers and biological systems. Chem Mater. 2005; 17 (6): 1290- 1295.

[30] Mawhinney DB, Naumenko V, Kuznetsova A, Yates JT, Liu J, Smalley RE. Infrared spectral evidence for the etching of carbon nanotubes: ozone oxidation at 298 K. J Am Chem Soc. 2000; 122 (10): 2383- 2384.

[31] Cataldo F, Compagnini G, Patané G, et al. Graphene nanoribbons produced by the oxidative unzipping of single-wall carbon nanotubes. Carbon. 2010; 48 (9): 2596- 2602.

[32] Hayyan M, Abo-Hamad A, AlSaadi MA, Hashim MA. Functionalization of graphene using deep eutectic solvents. Nanoscale Res Lett. 2015; 10: 324.

[33] Jorio A, Saito R. Raman spectroscopy for carbon nanotube applications. J Appl Phys. 2021; 129 (2): 021102.

[34] Ferrari AC, Meyer JC, Scardaci V, et al. Raman spectrum of graphene and graphene layers. Phys Rev Lett. 2006; 97 (18): 187401.

[35] Sebastian FL, Zorn NF, Settele S, et al. Absolute quantification of sp³ defects in semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes by Raman spectroscopy. J Phys Chem Lett. 2022; 13 (16): 3542- 3548.

[36] Tang H, Liang H, Jia R, et al. Homogenization of electric field distribution facilitating the Zn anode reversibility. Chem Commun. 2022; 58 (98): 13648- 13651.

[37] Hao J, Li B, Li X, et al. An in-depth study of Zn metal surface chemistry for advanced aqueous Zn-ion batteries. Adv Mater. 2020; 32 (34): 2003021.

[38] Hao J, Li X, Zhang S, et al. Designing dendrite-free zinc anodes for advanced aqueous zinc batteries. Adv Funct Mater. 2020; 30 (30): 2001263.

[39] Zhou S, Wang Y, Lu H, et al. Anti-corrosive and Zn-ion-regulating composite interlayer enabling long-life Zn metal anodes. Adv Funct Mater. 2021; 31 (46): 2104361.

[40] Dupont M, Hollenkamp AF, Donne SW. Electrochemically active surface area effects on the performance of manganese dioxide for electrochemical capacitor applications. Electrochim Acta. 2013; 104: 140- 147.

[41] Um JH, Yu SH. Unraveling the mechanisms of lithium metal plating/stripping via in situ/operando analytical techniques. Adv Energy Mater. 2021; 11 (27): 2003004.

[42] Bozzini B, Gianoncelli A, Mele C, Sgura I, Kiskinova M. Electrodeposition of a Mn-Cu-ZnO hybrid material for supercapacitors: a soft X-ray fluorescence and absorption microspectroscopy study. ChemElectroChem. 2014; 1 (2): 392- 399.

[43] Hwang JY, Park SJ, Yoon CS, Sun YK. Customizing a Li-metal battery that survives practical operating conditions for electric vehicle applications. Energy Environ Sci. 2019; 12 (7): 2174- 2184.

[44] Wang C, Deng T, Fan X, et al. Identifying soft breakdown in all-solid-state lithium battery. Joule. 2022; 6 (8): 1770- 1781.

[45] Zampardi G, La Mantia F. Open challenges and good experimental practices in the research field of aqueous Zn-ion batteries. Nat Commun. 2022; 13: 687.

[46] Kundu D, Adams BD, Duffort V, Vajargah SH, Nazar LF. A high-capacity and long-life aqueous rechargeable zinc battery using a metal oxide intercalation cathode. Nat Energy. 2016; 1 (10): 16119.

[47] Wang J, Zhu Q, Li F, et al. Low-temperature and high-rate Zn metal batteries enabled by mitigating Zn²⁺ concentration polarization. Chem Eng J. 2022; 433: 134589.

[48] Rui X, Tang Y, Malyi OI, et al. Ambient dissolution-recrystallization towards large-scale preparation of V₂O₅ nanobelts for high-energy battery applications. Nano Energy. 2016; 22: 583- 593.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 2024 The Authors. Carbon Energy published by Wenzhou University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.