Iron-Free Anode Boosting High Energy Efficiency Aqueous Full Iron-Ion Batteries

Aqueous iron-ion batteries with reversible storage of Fe²⁺ have undergone rapid development in recent years. Consistently throughout these studies, metallic iron is selected as the anode material. However, the large overpotential (250 mV) associated with the plating/stripping process of iron in aqueous solutions leads to unsatisfactory energy efficiency of the battery, although high capacity and Coulomb efficiency can be achieved. Herein, an iron-free anode material, 9,10-anthraquinone (AQ) is proposed in aqueous iron-ion batteries, which shows a low reaction potential and minimal polarization during storing iron ions. The organic anode exhibits favorable specific capacity of 106 mAh g^-1 at 0.5 A g^-1 and excellent cycling stability (92.6% retention after 500 cycles). In addition, an aqueous full iron-ion battery is constructed using AQ as the anode and 9,10-phenanthraquinone (PQ) as the cathode. The full battery demonstrates an enhanced energy efficiency of 72%, which is 206% higher than that of metal iron anode, and shows excellent cycling stability and Coulombic efficiency. This work provides a viable route to overcome the high polarization of metallic iron anode and promote the development of aqueous iron-ion batteries.