A smart safe rechargeable zinc ion battery based on sol-gel transition electrolytes
Schematic illustration of the thermoresponsive Zn/α-MnO2 batteries with reversible sol-gel transition electrolye. Credit: ©Science China Press
Reversible sol-gel transition hydrogels have received abundant research interests owing to their smart responsibility to ambient temperature. They are normally in flowing liquid state at or below room temperature and can transform into stationary gels when heating above critical temperature.
Moreover, this transition can be reversed after cooling down, displaying interesting temperature-dependent properties. Sol-gel transition polymer may potentially be good candidates for designing advanced batteries with intelligent thermal responsibility.
Recently, a research team led by Prof. Chunyi Zhi from City University of Hong Kong has successfully synthesized a temperature-sensitive sol-gel transition electrolyte comprising proton-incorporated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PNA) and incorporated it into a rechargeable Zn/α-MnO2 battery system.
After heating above the low critical temperature, a gelation process occurs in the PNA sol-gel electrolyte and significantly inhibits the migration of zinc ions, leading to a decreased specific capacity and an increased internal resistance of the battery, thus shutting down the battery.
After cooling down, the transition is reversed to liquid state and an original electrochemical performance can be restored. More importantly, unlike traditional strategies, the sol-gel electrolyte endows the thermoresponsive battery with dynamic charge/discharge rate performance at different temperature, which enabled a “smart” thermal control for the battery. This work represents a feasible concept for self-protection batteries via reversible sol-gel transition.
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This work was supported by NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme under Project N_CityU123/15 and NSFC 5151101197 and a Grant from City University of Hong Kong (PJ7004645). The work was also partially sponsored by Science & Technology Department of Sichuan Province (2017JY0088).
See the article:
Funian Mo, Hongfei Li, Zengxia Pei, Guojin Liang, Longtao Ma, Qi Yang, Donghong Wang, Yan Huang, Chunyi Zhi. A smart safe rechargeable zinc ion battery based on sol-gel transition electrolytes, Science Bulletin, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2018.06.019
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