Introducing <i>p</i> ‐Band Center to Promote <i>p/p</i> ‐π* Orbital Hybridization for High‐Performance Aqueous Zinc‐Iodine Batteries Toward Flexible Wearable Devices and Seawater Electrolyte Applications
Abstract Aqueous zinc‐iodine (Zn‐I 2 ) batteries represent attractive candidates for flexible electronics and advanced energy storage due to their environmental benignity, inherent safety, and low cost. However, severe zinc dendrite formation, parasitic side reactions, and rapid polyiodide shuttling coupled with sluggish redox kinetics impede practical deployment. To overcome these limitations, a novel (1,4‐dioxan‐2‐yl)methanol (DXm) is introduced as a multifunctional electrolyte additive. The p ‐band center of ─O─ groups in DXm covalently coordinates with Zn 2 ⁺, enabling uniform zinc deposition and suppressing interfacial side reactions. Meanwhile, DXm introduces p / p ‐π* orbital hybridization with iodine species, accelerating polyiodide redox kinetics. Consequently, DXm‐modified flexible cells exhibit exceptional cyclability and stable performance across a broad temperature range (0–25 °C), even under mechanical deformation. Furthermore, cells employing DXm‐containing seawater electrolyte present 187 mAh g −1 capacity with 1000 cycles at a current density of 25 C. This work provides fundamental insights into p ‐band center modulation for enhanced p / p ‐π* hybridization in electrochemical redox reactions, establishing design principles for sustainable Zn‐I 2 batteries in flexible, wearable, and seawater‐based applications.
Authors
- Weina Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0897-2061)
- Jie Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6611-5666)
- Yunling Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4553-1353)
- Hang Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8778-1695)
- Chenyang Zha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7491-9146)
- Jing Li
- Lin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5696-1076)
- Xinyu Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-2186)
- Yan Lv (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4299-9364)
- Shuo Wang
Institutions
- Nanjing Tech University (CN)
- Guangdong University of Technology (CN)
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2025-08-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202516000
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Advanced battery technologies research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.73
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province