3D Engineered Dual-Redox Zinc-Iodine Microbatteries for Intrinsically Safe on-Chip Energy Storage

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Energy Storage

Background:

• Miniaturization of electronics requires compact, safe, high-energy-density microbatteries (MBs).
• On-chip energy storage faces challenges in achieving high capacity, rapid kinetics, and scalability simultaneously.
• Existing zinc-ion MBs have limitations in performance and charge storage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop advanced zinc-iodine (Zn//I2) microbatteries (MBs) with enhanced performance.
• To exploit synergistic dual-redox chemistry for improved energy storage.
• To establish a new design paradigm for intrinsically safe, CMOS-compatible MBs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a synergistic dual-redox chemistry by introducing ZnI2 into a Zn(CF3SO3)2 gel electrolyte.
• Employed a polyaniline (PANI) micro-cathode, zinc micro-anode, and a 3D porous Au interdigitated current collector.
• Conducted density functional theory (DFT) calculations and electrochemical analyses.

Main Results:

• Achieved over 26-fold enhancement in charge storage compared to conventional Zn-ion MBs.
• Optimized Zn//I2 MBs demonstrated an areal capacity of 314 µAh cm⁻², energy density of 363 µWh cm⁻², and power density of 5385 µW cm⁻².
• Confirmed strong I-/I3- adsorption on PANI, indicating superior redox hosting and hybrid charge storage.

Conclusions:

• The developed Zn//I2 MBs offer significantly improved performance through synergistic dual-redox chemistry.
• This work establishes a new design for intrinsically safe, CMOS-compatible Zn-based MBs.
• Presents a transformative pathway for on-chip powered integrated microsystems and next-generation smart electronics.