Breakthrough in Energy Storage: New Study on Low-Temperature Zinc Batteries

Strategic Insights -

A team of researchers at Taiyuan University of Technology has made a significant breakthrough in energy storage, developing a dilute and non-flammable electrolyte that enables stable solid electrolyte interfaces for low-temperature zinc batteries. The study, published in Energy Storage Materials, has been peer-reviewed and offers a promising solution for designing safe and low-cost electrolytes for zinc-ion batteries.

Key Takeaways:

  • The researchers constructed a dilute and non-flammable electrolyte composed of 0.5 M Zn(BF4)(2) salts in a cosolvent of tetrahydrofuran (THF)/triethyl phosphate (TEP) (1:2 by volume) for zinc-ion batteries.
  • The electrolyte reduced the freezing point of electrolytes, ensuring high ionic conductivity and fluidity even at low temperatures.
  • The use of TEP and THF in the electrolyte formed a unique Zn2+ solvation sheath, leading to a stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) and rapid Zn2+ transport.
  • The researchers achieved a high coulombic efficiency of 99.86% over 1500 cycles in half cells and an extraordinarily long cycling life of 5000 h in symmetric cells.
  • The symmetric cells ran stably over 5000 h with low overpotential even at -40°C.
  • The full cells demonstrated high discharge capacity and capacity retention.

Statistics:

  • 99.86% coulombic efficiency over 1500 cycles in half cells
  • 5000 h cycling life in symmetric cells
  • 5000 h running time with low overpotential in symmetric cells at -40°C
  • 0.5 M Zn(BF4)(2) salts concentration in the electrolyte
  • 1:2 by volume ratio of THF/TEP solvents

Sources:

  • A Dilute and Non-flammable Electrolyte Engineering Enables Stable Sei for Low-temperature Zinc Batteries. Energy Storage Materials, 2025;80.
  • Qian Wang, Taiyuan University of Technology, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan 030024, Shanxi, People's Republic of China
  • Rujian Fu, Bo Zhang, Tiantian Lu, Chang Liu, Lifeng Hou, Shi Wang, Yihang Ning and Zhong Jin, authors of the research paper
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
  • Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
  • Beijing Natural Science Foundation-Xiaomi innovation joint Foundation
  • Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST
  • Shanxi energy internet research institute
  • China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
  • Project of State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays
  • Natural Science Foundation of NJUTP
  • Open Research Fund of Guangdong Advanced Carbon Materials Co., Ltd
  • Special fund for Science and Technology Innovation Teams of Shanxi Province