Scalable Roll-to-Roll Dry Processing of 10 mAh cm^-2 Iodine Cathodes for Establishing Ah-Level Aqueous Zn-I₂ Pouch...

The deployment of aqueous Zn-I₂ batteries is limited by inadequate energy density, restricted cycle life and the lack of reliable Ah-level pouch cell evaluation protocols, resulting in the widening gap between laboratory research and industrial application. Herein, a scalable roll-to-roll dry-processing strategy is developed to fabricate high-areal-capacity I₂ cathodes, which effectively enhances cell-level energy density by reducing the proportion of inactive battery components. Through synergistic optimization of electrode composition and manufacturing approach, the resulting 1 mm-thick AC@I₂ cathode achieves a high areal capacity of 10 mAh cm^-2 with record-breaking lifespan over 15 000 cycles. Critically, decoupling PTFE fibrillation from iodine incorporation allows tunable iodine loadings up to 110 mg cm^-2 while minimizing sublimation losses and preserving mechanical integrity. Moreover, the engineered hierarchical conductive network ensures efficient charge transport, with ionic diffusion as the primary rate-limiting step. Most importantly, the developed pilot-scale process enables continuous production of electrode rolls exceeding 20 m in length, realizing the straightforward fabrication of Ah-level Zn-I₂ pouch cells without complex multilayer stacking. These pouch cells (1.08 Ah) demonstrate stable cycling over 1700 cycles at 2 C. This work establishes a reproducible electrode-manufacturing methodology and evaluation platform, effectively bridging laboratory innovation with practical battery implementation.