Tailoring crystallization zinc hydroxide sulfates growth towards stable zinc deposition chemistry

The unstable zinc anode/electrolyte interface induced by corrosion,interfacial water splitting reaction,and dendrite growth seriously degrades the performances of metal Zn anode in aqueous electrolyte.Herein,the nucleation and growth of zinc hydroxide sulfate(ZHS),an interfacial by-product,has been tailored by Tween 80 in the electrolyte,which thereby assists in in-situ forming a dense solid electrolyte interphase(SEI)with small-sized ZHS and evenly distributed Tween 80.This SEI has high corrosion resistance and uniform distribution of zinc ions,which not only contributes to blocking the interfacial side reactions but also induces stable and calm zinc plating/stripping.Consequently,the modified electrolyte can confer the assembled Zn||Zn symmetric cell with a stable operation life over 1500 h at 1 mA·cm^(−2)and 1 mAh·cm^(−2)as well as the practical Zn||NH4V4O10 full battery with a high-rate capacity of 120 mAh·g^(−1)at the current density of 5 A·g^(−1).This work provides a way for regulating and reusing interfacial by-products,and a new sight on stabilization electrodes/electrolyte interfaces.

Filtration improvement of zinc sludge by using unconventional alkalization sequence

The novel ways for the filtration improvement of zinc hydroxide sludge precipitated from the zinc\|containing solutions was investigated. It was found that, when the zinc\|containing solutions were added to sodium hydroxide solution, the filtration of the obtained precipitates was improved to some extent, depending on the molar ratios of OH\+-/Zn, in comparison with those obtained by conventional addition of hydroxide solution to zinc\|containing solution, even the ratios were kept the same in these two alkalization methods. The experimental results showed that such an improvement may be contributed to the presence of muddy precipitates formed homogeneously in the sludge. It was suggested that it was zinc\|containing solution that should be added into hydroxide solution, when the zinc was removed from aqueous solution by the precipitation of zinc hydroxides. As a result, the sludge obtained will be filtered and rinsed readily.

Effect of ZnO Precursor on Properties of Calcium Aluminate Cement Bonded Corundum Castables

Calcium aluminate cement(CAC)bonded corundum based castables were prepared using tabular corundum and activated alumina as the starting materials,CAC as the binder,zinc hydroxide(Zn(OH)_(2))and basic zinc carbonate(BZC)as the ZnO precursors.The effects of the two ZnO precursors on the phase composition and the microstructure of the CAC bonded corundum based castable matrix specimens were analyzed,and the reasons affecting the hot performance of the castables were studied.The results show that Zn(OH)_(2) with a smaller particle size(d_(50)=1.26μm)is prone to agglomerate during sample preparation and generates ZnAl_(2)O_(4) spinel grains after firing,hindering the growth of CA_(6),thus decreasing the mechanical strength of the castables.BZC with a larger particle size(d_(50)=2.91μm),which shows a sound dispersity,in-situ generates nano-sized ZnO after firing,and ZnO or Zn^(2+)diffuses into calcium aluminates,promoting the sintering of CA_(2) and CA_(6),thereby enhancing the hot properties of the CAC-bonded corundum based castables.

Study on Capacitance of Zn-Based Electrode in Redox Electrolyte System

Electrode material is one of the most important factors affecting the performance of supercapacitors, and electrolyte solution is another. In this work, electrochemical properties of hydroxide zinc carbonate composite electrode (HZC) in KOH + K3[Fe(CN)6] electrolyte were studied. It was proved that [Fe(CN)6]3−in electrolyte participated in electrochemical reactions and promoted electron transfer. The specific capacitance of HZC electrode was as high as 920.5 F·g−1 at 1.0 A·g−1 in 1 mol·L−1 KOH and 0.04 mol·L−1 K3[Fe(CN)6] electrolyte, which is 172.9% higher than that in KOH. The combination of HZC electrode and low alkalinity aqueous electrolyte provided the supercapacitor system with good capacitance performance, safety, and environmentally friendly.

Stable interphase chemistry of textured Zn anode for rechargeable aqueous batteries

Despite the advances of aqueous zinc(Zn)batteries as sustainable energy storage systems,their practical application remains challenging due to the issues of spontaneous corrosion and dendritic deposits at the Zn metal anode.In this work,conformal growth of zinc hydroxide sulfate(ZHS)with dominating(001)facet was realized on(002)plane-dominated Zn metal foil fabricated through a facile thermal annealing process.The ZHS possessed high Zn^(2+)conductivity(16.9 mS cm^(-1))and low electronic conductivity(1.28×10^(4)Ωcm),and acted as a heterogeneous and robust solid electrolyte interface(SEI)layer on metallic Zn electrode,which regulated the electrochemical Zn plating behavior and suppressed side reactions simultaneously.Moreover,low self-diffusion barrier along the(002)plane promoted the 2D diffusion and horizontal electrochemical plating of metallic Zn for(002)-textured Zn electrode.Consequently,the as-achieved Zn electrode exhibited remarkable cycling stability over 7000 cycles at 2 mA cm^(-2)and 0.5 mAh cm^(-2)with a low overpotential of 25 mV in symmetric cells.Pairing with a MnO_(2)cathode,the as-achieved Zn electrode achieved stable cell cycling with 92.7%capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 10 C with a remarkable average Coulombic efficiency of 99.9%.