Crowding Agent Stabilizes Aqueous Electrolyte for Reversible Iron Metal Anode

IF 19.3 1区材料科学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

ACS Energy Letters Pub Date : 2025-02-03 DOI:10.1021/acsenergylett.4c03268

Louisa C. Greenburg, John Holoubek, Yi Cui, Pu Zhang, Huayue Ai, Elizabeth Zhang, Chenwei Liu, Guangxia Feng, Yi Cui

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Abstract

Aqueous batteries with Fe metal anodes are a promising technology for safe, low-cost stationary storage. Fe can deliver high gravimetric and volumetric capacities, but its commercial viability is hindered by competing side reactions and low Coulombic efficiency. This work explores the feasibility of employing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a crowding agent in Fe electrolyte to suppress the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and improve Fe plating/stripping efficiency. We demonstrate that in a 1 molal Fe electrolyte, employing 60% PEG/40% H₂O as the solvent yields higher Coulombic efficiency in Fe||Cu half cells and enables over two times the cycle life in Fe||Fe symmetric cells compared to the control composed of 100% H₂O solvent. Further, we find that the 60% PEG electrolyte decreases H₂ generation by almost 10 times during cycling. This electrolyte engineering approach also yields more crystalline Fe nuclei and denser growth during plating, leading to highly compact and reversible Fe anodes. Our results encourage further development of molecular crowding electrolytes for high efficiency Fe metal anodes.

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来源期刊

ACS Energy Letters Energy-Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

CiteScore

31.20

自引率

5.00%

发文量

469

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： ACS Energy Letters is a monthly journal that publishes papers reporting new scientific advances in energy research. The journal focuses on topics that are of interest to scientists working in the fundamental and applied sciences. Rapid publication is a central criterion for acceptance, and the journal is known for its quick publication times, with an average of 4-6 weeks from submission to web publication in As Soon As Publishable format. ACS Energy Letters is ranked as the number one journal in the Web of Science Electrochemistry category. It also ranks within the top 10 journals for Physical Chemistry, Energy & Fuels, and Nanoscience & Nanotechnology. The journal offers several types of articles, including Letters, Energy Express, Perspectives, Reviews, Editorials, Viewpoints and Energy Focus. Additionally, authors have the option to submit videos that summarize or support the information presented in a Perspective or Review article, which can be highlighted on the journal's website. ACS Energy Letters is abstracted and indexed in Chemical Abstracts Service/SciFinder, EBSCO-summon, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Portico.