Wood-derived continuously oriented three-phase interfacial channels for high-performance quasi-solid-state alkaline zinc batteries.

Abstract

Although recently developed hybrid zinc (Zn) batteries integrate the benefits of both alkaline Zn and Zn-air batteries, the kinetics of the electrocatalytic oxygen reaction and mass transfer of the electrolyte, which are limited by the mismatched and disordered multiphase reaction's interfacial transfer channels, considerably inhibit the performance of hybrid Zn batteries. In this study, we developed novel, continuously oriented three-phase interfacial channels at the cathode derived from the natural structure of pine wood to address these challenges. A pine wood chip was carbonized and asymmetrically loaded with a hydrophilic active material to achieve the creation of a wood-derived cathode that integrated the active material, current collector, and continuously oriented three-phase reaction interfacial channels, which allowed the reaction dynamics to be accelerated. Consequently, the assembled quasi-solid-state hybrid battery performs an extra charge-discharge process beyond that performed by a typical Ni-Zn battery, resulting in a wide operating voltage range of 0.6-2.0V and a superior specific capacity of 656.5 mAh g-1 at 1mA cm-2 , in addition to an excellent energy density (644.7Wh kg-1 ) and good durability. The approximately 370% capacity improvement relative to a Ni-Zn battery alone makes our hybrid battery one of the best-performing alkaline Zn batteries. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.