Urea-Based Deep Eutectic Solvent with Magnesium/Lithium Dual Ions as an Aqueous Electrolyte for High-Performance Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrid Devices

Abstract

A new deep eutectic solvent (DES) made from urea, magnesium chloride, lithium perchlorate and water has been developed as the electrolyte for battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices. The physicochemical characteristics of DES electrolytes and potential interactions between electrolyte components are well analyzed through electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques. It has been discovered that the properties of DES electrolytes are highly dependent on the component ratio, which allows us to engineer the electrolyte to meet the requirement of the battery application. Perylene tetracarboxylic di-imide and reduced graphene oxide ha ve been combined to produce a composite (PTCDI/rGO) that has been tested as the anode in DES electrolyte. This composite shows that the capacitive contribution is greater than 90% in a low scan rate, resulting in the high rate capability. The PTCDI/rGO electrode exhibits no sign of capacity degradation and its coulombic efficiency is close to 99% after 200 cycles, which suggests excellent reversibility and stability. On the other hand, the electrochemical performance of lithium manganese oxide as the cathode material is studied in DES electrolyte, which exhibits the maximum capacity of 76.5 mAh/g at 0.03 A/g current density. After being successfully examined in terms of electrode kinetics, capacity performance, and rate capability, the anode and cathode materials are combined to construct a two-electrode system with DES electrolyte. At a current density of 0.03 A/g, this system offers 43.5 mAh/g specific capacity and displays 55.5% retention of the maximum capacity at 1 A/g. Furthermore, an energy density of 53 Wh/kg is delivered at a power density of 35 W/kg.