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Dual Soft-Gel Electrodes Enabling Near-Practical and Deployable Aqueous Batteries
Kaiqiang Zhang1, Shengtao Yang1, Haoning Xi1
1School of Energy Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Abstract:
Aqueous batteries offer strong potential for large-scale energy storage owing to their intrinsic safety and low cost, yet their development remains constrained by the fundamental limitations of solid- and liquid-state electrode architectures. Here, we report a dual soft-gel electrode aqueous battery enabled by a water competition effect between sulfate anions and water-soluble polymers. By confining redox-active 1,8-bis(2-(2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-ethoxy)ethoxy)anthracene-9,10-dione and iodide within the anode and cathode soft-gel phases, respectively, together with an electronically conductive network, a dual-soft-gel electrode battery configuration is realized. This architecture delivers stable electrochemical operation while maintaining effective ionic and electronic transport. Importantly, the concept is further validated in a cylindrical cell with substantially increased electrode dimensions, which exhibits consistent cycling behavior, highlighting the potential of dual soft-gel electrodes as a deployable platform for practical aqueous batteries.
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Spontaneous redox reactions occur abundantly in nature. The chemical reaction occurring in a disposable AA battery powering our remote controls is one such example of a spontaneous redox reaction. Another example is the immersion of coiled copper wire into an aqueous silver nitrate solution. The reaction shows a gradual, visually impressive color change from colorless to bright blue and the formation of a grey precipitate on the copper wire. In this experiment,...

