Aqueous Batteries Operated at -50 °C

Abstract

Insufficient ionic conductivity and freezing of the electrolyte are considered the main problems for electrochemical energy storage at low temperatures (low T). Here, an electrolyte with a freezing point lower than -130 °C is developed by using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as an additive with molar fraction of 0.3 to an aqueous solution of 2 m NaClO₄ (2M-0.3 electrolyte). The 2M-0.3 electrolyte exhibits sufficient ionic conductivity of 0.11 mS cm^-1 at -50 °C. The combination of spectroscopic investigations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal that hydrogen bonds are stably formed between DMSO and water molecules, facilitating the operation of the electrolyte at ultra-low T. Using DMSO as the electrolyte additive, the aqueous rechargeable alkali-ion batteries (AABs) can work well even at -50 °C. This work provides a simple and effective strategy to develop low T AABs.

Keywords: aqueous batteries; dimethyl sulfoxide; hydrogen bonds; low temperature; −50 °C.