Regulation of Molecular Microheterogeneity in Electrolytes Enables Ampere‐Hour‐Level Aqueous LiMn<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>||Li<sub>4</sub>Ti<sub>5</sub>O<sub>12</sub> Pouch Cells
Aqueous batteries are attractive due to their high safety and fast reaction kinetics, but the narrow electrochemical stability window of H<sub>2</sub>O limits their applications. It is a big challenge to broaden the electrochemical operation window of aqueous electrolytes while retaining fast reaction kinetics. Here, a new organic aqueous mixture electrolyte of manipulatable (3D) molecular microheterogeneity with H<sub>2</sub>O-rich and H<sub>2</sub>O-poor domains is demonstrated. H<sub>2</sub>O-poor domains molecularly surround the reformed microclusters of H<sub>2</sub>O molecules through interfacial H-bonds, which thus not only inhibit the long-range transfer of H<sub>2</sub>O but also allow fast and consecutive Li<sup>+</sup> transport. This new design enables low-voltage anodes reversibly cycling with aqueous-based electrolytes and high ionic conductivity of 4.5 mS cm<sup>-1</sup>. LiMn<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>||Li<sub>4</sub>Ti<sub>5</sub>O<sub>12</sub> full cells demonstrate excellent cycling stability over 1000 cycles under various C rates and a low temperature of -20 °C. 1 Ah pouch cell delivers a high energy density of 79.3 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> and high Coulombic efficiency of 99.4% at 1 C over 200 cycles. This work provides new insights into the design of electrolytes based on the molecular microheterogeneity for rechargeable batteries.
Authors
- Liumin Suo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6772-8421)
- Huilin Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1205-9109)
- Xueqian Kong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1901-9073)
- Canfu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1201-2821)
- Qinlong Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4218-2055)
- Yingchun Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2392-9114)
- Jun Biao Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0858-8577)
- Binbin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3910-0426)
Institutions
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Institute of Physics (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization
- Zhejiang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2024-08-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202405913
- Citations
- 23
- Primary Topic
- Advancements in Battery Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.80
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biodiversidade e Produtos Naturais
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province