Tailoring K <sup>+</sup> Dosage in K <sup>+</sup> /Zn <sup>2+</sup> Mixed Electrolytes via Lattice Expansion Regulation of Zinc Hexacyanoferrate for High‐performance Zinc Ion Batteries
ABSTRACT Incorporating K + into Zn‐based electrolytes can enhance the performance of aqueous zinc ion batteries, while the lack of a clear rule for matching specific K + dosage with the cathode lattice regulation hinders its practical advancement. Herein, we propose a current‐dependent critical dissolution concentration (CDC) as a quantitative reference to optimize K + content, aiming to realize suppressed cyclic degradation of zinc hexacyanoferrate (ZnHCF) cathodes through precise lattice expansion control. The spontaneous dissolution of ZnHCF is theoretically analyzed via Van't Hoff isothermal equation , and a quantitative relationship between ZnHCF dissolution and K + concentration is obtained. Further, HRTEM and XRD confirm that the K + concentration below the current‐free CDC causes ZnHCF dissolution due to the current enrichment effect, indicating that K + concentration above CDC can trigger spontaneous ZnHCF dissolution, while K + concentration is lower than CDC, the ZnHCF layer distance is not sufficiently expanded. Based on this, the long‐term cycling performance of gradient K + concentration under gradient current density and in situ electrode stability tests quantifies the optimal K + ratio at each current density and successfully predicts the optimal K + concentration corresponding to a certain current density. Overall, this work advances general design guidelines for alkali metal cation additives in aqueous zinc ion batteries.
Authors
- Wenju Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7166-7986)
- Jiyuan You
- Yuchen Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3153-4000)
- Yuqian Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4932-1334)
- Ying Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1312-0146)
- Yewei Li
- Yanhao Pan
- Shuang Zheng
Institutions
- Nanjing University of Science and Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2026-06-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.75876
- Primary Topic
- Advanced battery technologies research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities