Inhibition of quinone dissolution via symmetrically polarized effect for ultra-stable proton batteries

Aqueous batteries hold promising prospects as the next generation of batteries due to their high safety level, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, for decades, aqueous batteries have been plagued by electrode dissolution issues, which are attributed to the formation of hydrogen bonds, particularly in acidic-type aqueous proton batteries. Herein, this work reveals that symmetrically polarized structural materials effectively solve the dissolution issue of electrodes, owing to an anti-hydrogen bond framework that hinders the formation of hydrogen bonds between the carbonyl (C=O) group and water molecules. As a result, these symmetrically polarized effect-induced electrodes exhibit no electrode-dissolution phenomenon after being immersed in 1 M H₂SO₄ solution for 500 days and achieve stable cycling for 40,000 ultra-long cycles at 10 A g⁻¹. Therefore, this study presents a compelling analysis of the ultra-stable electrode design in proton batteries, thereby demonstrating new opportunities for electrode construction in highly corrosive environments.