Confinement−Adsorption Synergy in Hybrid Carbon‐Coated Separator Enables Stable High‐Rate Quinone Cathode for Magnesium Batteries

Organic cathodes offer great promise for rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs) owing to their structural tunability and fast Mg 2+ transport, yet their dissolution in ether‐based electrolytes leads to rapid capacity fading and poor rate performance. Herein, we design a high‐performance sulfur‐containing heterocyclic quinone cathode, benzo[b]naphtho[2′,3′:5,6][1,4]dithiino[2,3‐i]thianthrene‐5,7,9,14,16,18‐hexone (BNDTH), coupled with a functional carbon‐coated separator composed of graphene oxide (GO) and carboxylated multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs−COOH) at an optimized 1:9 mass ratio. In this architecture, GO provides physical confinement to suppress BNDTH diffusion, while MWCNTs−COOH offer abundant chemical adsorption sites to immobilize soluble species. This synergistic confinement–adsorption mechanism effectively mitigates active‐material loss and promotes charge transfer. As a result, the Mg//BNDTH cell exhibits significantly improved rate capability, delivering cathode capacities rising from 153 to 261 mAh g −1 at 1 C and from 26 to 100 mAh g −1 at 10 C over 500 cycles, along with cell‐level power and energy densities of 4517 W kg −1 and 222 Wh kg −1 , respectively—surpassing most reported RMBs employing organic cathodes. This work presents a viable separator‐engineering strategy for achieving stable and high‐rate operation of soluble organic cathodes in RMBs.

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Publication Details

Journal
Energy & environment materials
Published
2026-02-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.70295
Primary Topic
Advancements in Battery Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Confinement−Adsorption Synergy in Hybrid Carbon‐Coated Separator Enables Stable High‐Rate Quinone Cathode for Magnesium Batteries

Xinyu Zhao, Xiquan Qi, Zhirong Zhao‐Karger
Energy & environment materials
Advancements in Battery Materials
article

Confinement−Adsorption Synergy in Hybrid Carbon‐Coated Separator Enables Stable High‐Rate Quinone Cathode for Magnesium Batteries

Xinyu Zhao, Xiquan Qi, Zhirong Zhao‐Karger
article en

Abstract

Organic cathodes offer great promise for rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs) owing to their structural tunability and fast Mg 2+ transport, yet their dissolution in ether‐based electrolytes leads to rapid capacity fading and poor rate performance. Herein, we design a high‐performance sulfur‐containing heterocyclic quinone cathode, benzo[b]naphtho[2′,3′:5,6][1,4]dithiino[2,3‐i]thianthrene‐5,7,9,14,16,18‐hexone (BNDTH), coupled with a functional carbon‐coated separator composed of graphene oxide (GO) and carboxylated multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs−COOH) at an optimized 1:9 mass ratio. In this architecture, GO provides physical confinement to suppress BNDTH diffusion, while MWCNTs−COOH offer abundant chemical adsorption sites to immobilize soluble species. This synergistic confinement–adsorption mechanism effectively mitigates active‐material loss and promotes charge transfer. As a result, the Mg//BNDTH cell exhibits significantly improved rate capability, delivering cathode capacities rising from 153 to 261 mAh g −1 at 1 C and from 26 to 100 mAh g −1 at 10 C over 500 cycles, along with cell‐level power and energy densities of 4517 W kg −1 and 222 Wh kg −1 , respectively—surpassing most reported RMBs employing organic cathodes. This work presents a viable separator‐engineering strategy for achieving stable and high‐rate operation of soluble organic cathodes in RMBs.

Energy & environment materials
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE), Nanjing Tech University (CN), Institute of Nanotechnology (GB), Helmholtz-Institute Ulm (DE)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Government of Jiangsu Province, Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 58%
Advancements in Battery Materials
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