A Superlattice-Stabilized Layered CuS Anode for High-Performance Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Jiaqian Zhang; Qi Lei; Zhiguo Ren; Xiaohui Zhu; Ji Li; Zhao Li; Shilei Liu; Yiran Ding; Zheng Jiang; Jiong Li; Yaobo Huang; Xiaolong Li; Xingtai Zhou; Yong Wang; Daming Zhu; Mengqi Zeng; Lei Fu

doi:10.1021/acsnano.1c05725

A Superlattice-Stabilized Layered CuS Anode for High-Performance Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

ACS Nano. 2021 Nov 23;15(11):17748-17756. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.1c05725. Epub 2021 Oct 29.

Authors

Jiaqian Zhang¹, Qi Lei^{2

3}, Zhiguo Ren⁴, Xiaohui Zhu⁵, Ji Li^{2

3}, Zhao Li⁶, Shilei Liu⁷, Yiran Ding⁵, Zheng Jiang⁴, Jiong Li⁴, Yaobo Huang⁴, Xiaolong Li⁴, Xingtai Zhou², Yong Wang⁴, Daming Zhu⁴, Mengqi Zeng¹, Lei Fu¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
² Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201204, China.
⁵ The Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
⁶ National Engineering Research Center of Light Alloy Net Forming, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composite, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
⁷ School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China.

PMID: 34714615
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c05725

Abstract

Rechargeable aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) are attracting extensive attention owing to environmental friendliness and high safety. However, its practical applications are limited to the poor Coulombic efficiency and stability of a Zn anode. Herein, we demonstrate a periodically stacked CuS-CTAB superlattice, as a competitive conversion-type anode for AZIBs with greatly improved specific capacity, rate performance, and stability. The CuS layers react with Zn²⁺ to endow high capacity, while CTAB layers serve to stabilize the structure and facilitate Zn²⁺ diffusion kinetics. Accordingly, CuS-CTAB shows superior rate performance (225.3 mA h g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1 with 144.4 mA h g^-1 at 10 A g^-1) and a respectable cyclability of 87.6% capacity retention over 3400 cycles at 10 A g^-1. In view of the outstanding electrochemical properties, full batteries constructed with a CuS-CTAB anode and cathode (Zn_xFeCo(CN)₆ and Zn_xMnO₂) are evaluated in coin cells, which demonstrate impressive full-battery performance.

Keywords: aqueous zinc-ion batteries; cetyltrimethylammonium bromide; conversion reaction; copper sulfide; superlattice structure; synchrotron radiation.