A high-voltage aqueous antimony-manganese hybrid battery based on all stripping/plating mechanism

Aqueous Sb-based batteries are attractive owing to the low cost and high theoretical capacity of the Sb metal anode. However, the poor rate capability and low output voltage hinder their further development. Herein, we develop a new paradigm high-rate and high-voltage Sb-Mn2+ hybrid battery based on reversible stripping/ plating behavior by using a three-dimensional (3D) porous Sb/nitrogen-doped carbon framework (Sb/NCF) as the anode. The nitrogen-doped carbon interface effectively decreases the nucleation overpotential of Sb and enhances the adsorption capability of SbO2- , thus greatly facilitating the reversibility of Sb stripping/plating process. The as-prepared Sb/NCF anode shows a high areal capacity of 1 mAh cm-1 and high coulombic efficiency of 99.4%. A hybrid battery with such an electrode and a Mn2+/MnO2 cathode shows a high output voltage of nearly 1.63 V, an excellent rate capability (95% capacity retention from 2 to 20 mA cm-2) and good cycling lifetime. An exceptional high energy density of 954 Wh kg-1 is also achieved, which overmatches most of recently reported aqueous batteries. This work will lay a foundation for the design of high-voltage aqueous battery based on reversible stripping/plating chemistry.

Automated summary

In this study, a high-rate and high-voltage Sb-Mn2+ hybrid battery was developed using a three-dimensional porous Sb/nitrogen-doped carbon framework as the anode. By optimizing the design, the battery exhibits high output voltage, excellent rate capability, and good cycling lifetime, achieving an exceptional high energy density.