Paper-based aqueous Al ion battery with water-in-salt electrolyte

Low-cost,flexible and safe battery technology is the key to the widespread usage of wearable electronics,among which the aqueous Al ion battery with water-in-salt electrolyte is a promising candidate.In this work,a flexible aqueous Al ion battery is developed using cellulose paper as substrate.The water-in-salt electrolyte is stored inside the paper,while the electrodes are either printed or attached on the paper surface,leading to a lightweight and thin-film battery prototype.Currently,this battery can tolerate a charge and discharge rate as high as 4 A g^(-1) without losing its storage capacity.The charge voltage is around 2.2 V,while the discharge plateau of 1.6–1.8 V is among the highest in reported aqueous Al ion batteries,together with a high discharge specific capacity of~140 mAh g^(-1).However,due to the water electrolysis side reaction,the faradaic efficiency can only reach 85%with a cycle life of 250 due to the dry out of electrolyte.Benefited from using flexible materials and aqueous electrolyte,this paper-based Al ion battery can tolerate various deformations such as bending,rolling and even puncturing without losing its performance.When two single cells are connected in series,the battery pack can provide a charge voltage of 4.3 V and a discharge plateau as high as 3–3.6 V,which are very close to commercial Li ion batteries.Such a cheap,flexible and safe battery technology may be widely applied in low-cost and large-quantity applications,such as RFID tags,smart packages and wearable biosensors in the future.

A superhigh discharge capacity induced by a synergetic effect between high-surface-area carbons and a carbon paper current collector in a lithium–oxygen battery

This paper invesitages the synergetic effect between high-surface-area carbons, such as Ketjan Black(KB) or Super P(SP) carbon materials, and low-surface-area carbon paper(CP) current collectors and it also examines their influence on the discharge performance of nonaqueous Li–O2cells. Ultra-large specific discharge capacities are found in the KB/CP cathodes, which are much greater than those observed in the individual KB or CP cathodes. Detailed analysis indicates that such unexpectedly large capacities result from the synergetic effect between the two components. During the initial discharges of KB or SP materials, a large number of superoxide radical(O·-2) species in the electrolytes and Li2O2 nuclei at the CP surfaces are formed, which activate the CP current collectors to contribute considerable capacities. These results imply that CP could be a superior material for current collectors in terms of its contribution to the overall discharge capacity.On the other hand, we should be careful to calculate the specific capacities of the oxygen cathodes when using CP as a current collector; i.e., ignoring the contribution from the CP may cause overstated discharge capacities.

Development of flexible zinc–air battery with nanocomposite electrodes and a novel separator

In this paper, we present the development of flexible zinc–air battery. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) were added into electrodes to improve their performance. It was found that MWCNTs were effective conductive additive in anode as they bridged the zinc particles. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)polystyrene sulfonate(PEDOT:PSS) was applied as a co-binder to enhance both the conductivity and flexibility. A poly(acrylic acid)(PAA) and polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) coated paper separator was used to enhance the battery performance where the PVP–PAA layer facilitated electrolyte storage. The batteries remained functional under bending conditions and after bending. Multiple design optimizations were also carried out for storage and performance purposes.