Materials Science & Engineering graduate student Tianrui (Terry) Zheng, along with postdoctoral researcher Zhengyu Ju under the direction of Dr. Guihua Yu, have published a paper that focuses on improving the stability of aqueous batteries in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Also contributing to the paper were Dr. Amy Marschilok, Dr. Esther Takeuchi and Dr. Kenneth Takeuchi from Stony Brook University.
Aqueous metal batteries are promising for grid-scale energy storage due to high safety, low cost, and high-capacity metal anodes. However, their long-term stability is fundamentally limited by side reactions between water and the metal anodes.
The article introduces a general strategy to stabilize the metal anodes by strengthening water binding in hydrogels through incorporation of hydrophilic components. More importantly, gradient distribution of the hydrophilic species can be achieved to balance water activity reduction and ionic conductivity. The design provides new insight into interfacial water dynamics regulation and offers a broadly applicable pathway toward durable aqueous metal batteries for large-scale energy storage.
Read more at their article, "Gradient interfacial water dynamics for stable aqueous metal anodes."
