Journal
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Volume 14, Issue 7, Pages 4077-4084Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d1ee00783a
Keywords
-
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21935003, 21908217, 21975252, 21908214]
- Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program [XLYC1802050]
- CAS Engineering Laboratory for Electrochemical Energy Storage
- DICP funding [DICP I201928, DICP I202028]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The morphology evolution of Zn deposited in ZFBs is influenced by the concentration of the electrolyte, resulting in dense blocky Zn in concentrated electrolyte and mossy Zn in dilute electrolyte. The dominant crystal plane of Zn also shifts from (002) to (101) with the change in electrolyte concentration. Furthermore, recombination of Zn crystals on the same crystal plane was observed during the experiment. The research proposes an operating critical concentration range and optimized electrolyte utilization rate to maintain high coulombic efficiency and long cycling stability for Zn anodes in electrochemical energy storage devices.
Aqueous zinc-based flow batteries (ZFBs) represent one of the most promising energy storage technologies benefiting from their high safety and competitive energy density. However, the morphological evolution of Zn still remains vague but is significant in the electrolyte, whose Zn2+ concentration constantly decreases during Zn plating. Herein, we present a comprehensive experimental investigation on the morphological evolution and mechanism of deposited Zn in ZFBs and find that the formation of dense blocky Zn is controlled by instantaneous nucleation in concentrated electrolyte (>= 0.4 M); in dilute electrolyte (<= 0.3 M), Zn becomes mossy because of progressive nucleation. Simultaneously, the dominant plane of Zn crystals changes from (002) to (101). Besides, the recombination of Zn crystals on the same crystal plane was observed by in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). Significantly, to maintain a high coulombic efficiency (CE >99.5%) and long cycling stability, an operating critical concentration range (>= 0.4 M) and the optimized electrolyte utilization rate is proposed according to the Zn morphological evolution. This exploratory work will be beneficial for the further research of Zn anodes in electrochemical energy storage devices.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available