Proton-selective coating enables fast-kinetics high-mass-loading cathodes for sustainable zinc batteries
Quanquan Guo, Wei Li, Xiaodong Li, Jiaxu Zhang, Davood Sabaghi, Jianjun Zhang, Bowen Zhang, Dongqi Li, Jingwei Du, Xingyuan Chu, Sein Chung, Kilwon Cho, Nguyen Ngan Nguyen, Zhongquan Liao, Zhen Zhang, Xinxing Zhang, Grégory F. Schneider, Thomas Heine, Minghao Yu, Xinliang Feng
Abstract
Abstract The pressing demand for sustainable energy storage solutions has spurred the burgeoning development of aqueous zinc batteries. However, kinetics-sluggish Zn 2+ as the dominant charge carriers in cathodes leads to suboptimal charge-storage capacity and durability of aqueous zinc batteries. Here, we discover that an ultrathin two-dimensional polyimine membrane, featured by dual ion-transport nanochannels and rich proton-conduction groups, facilitates rapid and selective proton passing. Subsequently, a distinctive electrochemistry transition shifting from sluggish Zn 2+ -dominated to fast-kinetics H + -dominated Faradic reactions is achieved for high-mass-loading cathodes by using the polyimine membrane as an interfacial coating. Notably, the NaV 3 O 8 ·1.5H 2 O cathode (10 mg cm −2 ) with this interfacial coating exhibits an ultrahigh areal capacity of 4.5 mAh cm −2 and a state-of-the-art energy density of 33.8 Wh m −2 , along with apparently enhanced cycling stability. Additionally, we showcase the applicability of the interfacial proton-selective coating to different cathodes and aqueous electrolytes, validating its universality for developing reliable aqueous batteries.