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Interlayer Engineering of α-MoO3 Modulates Selective Hydronium Intercalation in Neutral Aqueous Electrolyte
Haozhe Zhang1, Weixing Wu1, Qiyu Liu1
1MOE of the Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, The Key Lab of Low-carbon Chem & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|October 1, 2020
Summary
Researchers achieved selective hydronium (H3O+) intercalation in neutral electrolytes for aqueous batteries. This breakthrough enables high-performance electrodes with enhanced capacity and stability, paving the way for faster charging.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Energy Storage
Background:
- Hydronium (H3O+) ions offer fast diffusion kinetics for aqueous batteries but are typically limited to acidic electrolytes.
- Achieving hydronium intercalation in neutral electrolytes is crucial for developing safer and more versatile battery systems.
- Inorganic electrode materials often face challenges with ion intercalation selectivity and performance in neutral media.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate selective hydronium (H3O+) intercalation in a neutral electrolyte for aqueous batteries.
- To engineer α-MoO3 electrodes to facilitate H3O+ intercalation over other ions like Zn2+.
- To investigate the impact of interlayer water molecules on ion transport and electrochemical performance.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of water-proton co-intercalated α-MoO3 (WP-MoO3) materials.
- Electrochemical characterization in a neutral ZnCl2 electrolyte.
- Analysis of ion intercalation mechanisms using electrochemical data and proposed Grotthuss proton-conduction pathway.
- Comparison of WP-MoO3 performance against pristine α-MoO3.
Main Results:
- Selective H3O+ intercalation was achieved in WP-MoO3 within a neutral ZnCl2 electrolyte.
- WP-MoO3 exhibited significantly enhanced specific capacity (356.8 vs. 184.0 mAh g-1) compared to Zn2+-intercalated α-MoO3.
- Superior rate capability (77.5% vs. 42.2% retention from 0.4 to 4.8 A g-1) and cycling stability (83% vs. 13% over 1000 cycles) were observed for WP-MoO3.
- Interlayer water molecules were found to block Zn2+ pathways while enabling H3O+ transport via a Grotthuss mechanism.
Conclusions:
- Interlayer engineering is a viable strategy to modulate electrochemical intercalating ions in electrode materials.
- WP-MoO3 demonstrates a promising pathway for constructing high-rate and long-life aqueous batteries using hydronium ions in neutral electrolytes.
- This work opens new possibilities for designing advanced electrode materials for efficient energy storage applications.
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