April 22 - 26, 2024
Seattle, Washington
May 7 - 9, 2024 (Virtual)

Event Supporters

2024 MRS Spring Meeting
ES04.08.08

Peptide Gel Electrolytes for Stabilized Zn Metal Anodes

When and Where

Apr 26, 2024
10:15am - 10:30am
Room 422, Level 4, Summit

Presenter(s)

Co-Author(s)

Yizhou Wang1,Husam Alshareef1

KAUST1

Abstract

Yizhou Wang1,Husam Alshareef1

KAUST1
The rechargeable aqueous Zn ion battery (AZIB) is considered a promising candidate for future long-duration energy storage due to its intrinsic safety features and low cost. However, Zn dendrites and side reactions (<i>e.g.</i>, corrosion, hydrogen evolution reaction, and inactive side product (Zn hydroxide sulfate) formation) at the Zn metal anode have been serious obstacles to realizing satisfactory AZIB performance. The application of gel electrolytes is a common strategy for suppressing these problems, but the normally used highly crosslinked polymer matrix (<i>e.g.</i>, polyacrylamide (PAM)) brings additional difficulties for battery assembly and recycling. Herein, we have developed a gel electrolyte for Zn metal anode stabilization, where a peptide matrix, a highly biocompatible material, is used for gel construction. Various experiments and simulations elucidate the sulfate anion-assisted self-assembly gel formation and its effect in stabilizing Zn metal anodes. Unlike polymer gel electrolytes, the peptide gel electrolyte can reversibly transform between gel and liquid states, thus facilitating the gel-involved battery assembly and recycling. Furthermore, the peptide gel electrolyte provides fast Zn ion diffusion (comparable to conventional liquid electrolyte) while suppressing side reactions and dendrite growth, thus achieving highly stable Zn metal anodes as validated in various cell configurations. We believe that our concept of gel electrolyte design will inspire more future directions for Zn metal anode protection based on gel electrolyte design.

Keywords

electrodeposition | Zn

Symposium Organizers

Betar Gallant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tao Gao, University of Utah
Yuzhang Li, University of California, Los Angeles
Wu Xu, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Session Chairs

Tao Gao
Wu Xu

In this Session