ORALS

Among various battery chemistries, Zn and Al batteries stand out due to their safety, availability, high volumetric capacity, ease of handling and recyclability. [1, 2] Compared to Li/Na battery chemistries, both Zn and Al batteries have been developed using aqueous/ionic liquid electrolytes which has shown relatively stable performance. [3, 4] However, challenges exist in tuning the electrolyte chemistries along with developing suitable cathodes due to multi-ion storage process. In the last couple of years, we have looked into the electrolyte and cathode chemistries for both batteries and have progressed in developing a stable battery system.In this presentation, I will show the progress in both batteries which involves modification of aqueous electrolytes using ionic liquids/bio-ionic liquids which in-turn changes the electrochemical reactions at the cathode and anode. The addition of ionic liquids leads to dendrite-free metal deposition at the anode and improves the overall battery capacity. By tuning the electrolyte composition, we have improved both the capacity and stabilities of Zn and Al batteries.    

References:
[1] Faegh et al, Nat. Energy, 2021, 6, 21
[2] Jia et al, Chem Rev., 2020, 120, 7785
[3] Lahiri et al, ACS Appl. Mater. Interface., 2019, 11, 45098
[4] Lahiri et al, Materials Advances, 2021, 2, 2676