An Air-Rechargeable Zn Battery Enabled by Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Cathode

Junjie Shi; Ke Mao; Qixiang Zhang; Zunyu Liu; Fei Long; Li Wen; Yixin Hou; Xinliang Li; Yanan Ma; Yang Yue; Luying Li; Chunyi Zhi; Yihua Gao

doi:10.1007/s40820-023-01023-7

An Air-Rechargeable Zn Battery Enabled by Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Cathode

Nanomicro Lett. 2023 Feb 16;15(1):53. doi: 10.1007/s40820-023-01023-7.

Authors

Junjie Shi^#¹, Ke Mao^#^{1

2}, Qixiang Zhang¹, Zunyu Liu¹, Fei Long^{1

2}, Li Wen¹, Yixin Hou¹, Xinliang Li³, Yanan Ma⁴, Yang Yue^{5

6}, Luying Li¹, Chunyi Zhi³, Yihua Gao^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) and School of Physics, Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices (CNCD), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, 430074, People's Republic of China.
² Guangxi Key Laboratory of Optical and Electronic Materials and Devices, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, People's Republic of China.
³ Hong Kong Center for Cerebro-Cardiovascular Health Engineering, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Hubei Key Laboratory of Critical Materials of New Energy Vehicles and School of Mathematics, Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, 442002, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) and School of Physics, Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices (CNCD), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, 430074, People's Republic of China. yueyang@ahu.edu.cn.
⁶ Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, 230601, People's Republic of China. yueyang@ahu.edu.cn.
⁷ Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) and School of Physics, Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices (CNCD), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, 430074, People's Republic of China. gaoyihua@hust.edu.cn.
⁸ Hubei Key Laboratory of Critical Materials of New Energy Vehicles and School of Mathematics, Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, 442002, People's Republic of China. gaoyihua@hust.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Self-charging power systems collecting energy harvesting technology and batteries are attracting extensive attention. To solve the disadvantages of the traditional integrated system, such as highly dependent on energy supply and complex structure, an air-rechargeable Zn battery based on MoS₂/PANI cathode is reported. Benefited from the excellent conductivity desolvation shield of PANI, the MoS₂/PANI cathode exhibits ultra-high capacity (304.98 mAh g^-1 in N₂ and 351.25 mAh g^-1 in air). In particular, this battery has the ability to collect, convert and store energy simultaneously by an air-rechargeable process of the spontaneous redox reaction between the discharged cathode and O₂ from air. The air-rechargeable Zn batteries display a high open-circuit voltage (1.15 V), an unforgettable discharge capacity (316.09 mAh g^-1 and the air-rechargeable depth is 89.99%) and good air-recharging stability (291.22 mAh g^-1 after 50 air recharging/galvanostatic current discharge cycle). Most importantly, both our quasi-solid zinc ion batteries and batteries modules have excellent performance and practicability. This work will provide a promising research direction for the material design and device assembly of the next-generation self-powered system.

Keywords: Air-rechargeable; Desolvation shield; Energy storage mechanism; MoS2/PANI Cathode; Zn batteries module.