Advances in Electrodes and Electrolyte Engineering for High-Performance Zn Batteries and Supercapacitors

A special issue of Inorganics (ISSN 2304-6740).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 832

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, 9211-116 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada
Interests: batteries and supercapacitors; materials physics/chemistry; sustainable materials/energy; catalysis; nanotechnology; carbon; organics; crystal
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, 9211-116 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada
Interests: energy storage technology; metal-ion batteries; electrolyte solvation structure; nanomaterials; electrochemical reactions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zinc-based aqueous energy storage devices offer significant advantages such as high capacity, water compatibility, suitable redox potential, high safety, and low cost, making them highly promising for grid-level energy storage. However, challenges persist in achieving zinc metal reversibility due to issues such as dendritic growth, low Coulombic efficiency (CE), metal corrosion, and hydrogen evolution. Additionally, cathode materials face obstacles such as metal dissolution, poor conductivity, and limited capacity/capacitance in batteries/supercapacitors.

Various strategies have been developed to enhance electrode performance, including surface modification, coating, host construction, crystal facet engineering, separator design, and electrolyte modification. Among these, there is a growing focus on regulating the components and structures of electrolytes (solvent, salt, concentration, etc.) to address existing challenges in zinc-based energy devices. This is crucial as the electrolyte strongly influences factors such as voltage window, ionic conductivity, zinc plating/stripping process, zinc corrosion behavior, and cathode dissolution.

In line with these advancements, we are pleased to announce a Special Issue entitled "Advances in Electrodes and Electrolyte Engineering for High-Performance Zn Batteries and Supercapacitors". This Special Issue aims to showcase the latest developments in this research domain, covering advancements in anode, cathode, and electrolyte engineering towards the realization of advanced zinc batteries and supercapacitors.

Dr. Zhixiao Xu
Dr. Wenjing Deng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • aqueous energy storage
  • zinc batteries
  • zinc supercapacitors
  • electrolyte engineering
  • dendrite-free zinc anode
  • Mn-based cathode
  • V-based cathode
  • cathode dissolution inhibition
  • electrolyte engineering
  • solvation structure

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 10803 KiB  
Article
Novel NH4V4O10-Reduced Graphene Oxide Cathodes for Zinc-Ion Batteries: Theoretical Predictions and Experimental Validation
by He Lin, Chenfan Liu and Yu Zhang
Inorganics 2024, 12(8), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12080225 - 17 Aug 2024
Viewed by 580
Abstract
This investigation explores the potential of enhancing aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) through the introduction of a novel cathode material, NH4V4O10 (NVO), combined with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Utilizing Density Functional Theory (DFT), it was hypothesized that the incorporation [...] Read more.
This investigation explores the potential of enhancing aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) through the introduction of a novel cathode material, NH4V4O10 (NVO), combined with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Utilizing Density Functional Theory (DFT), it was hypothesized that the incorporation of rGO would increase the interlayer spacing of NVO and diminish the charge transfer interactions, thus promoting enhanced diffusion of Zn2+ ions. These theoretical predictions were substantiated by experimental data acquired from hydrothermal synthesis, which indicated a marked increase in interlayer spacing. Significantly, the NVO–rGO composite exhibits remarkable cyclic durability, maintaining 95% of its initial specific capacity of 507 mAh g−1 after 600 cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1. The electrochemical performance of NVO–rGO not only surpasses that of pristine NVO but also outperforms the majority of existing vanadium oxide cathode materials reported in the literature. This study underscores the effective integration of theoretical insights and experimental validation, contributing to the advancement of high-performance energy storage technologies. Full article
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