Tremendous work has been made in a relatively short period of time on developing the rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion battery (ZIB). From a practical point of view, a water-based battery offers perks Li-ion manufacturers cannot possibly envision: atmospheric control becomes unnecessary, cells can be safely vented, and electrolyte top-up can be performed by anyone at anytime. The ZIB is also considered by many to be the most promising rechargeable <i>zinc</i> battery technology because it addresses many of the short-comings of traditional zinc battery chemistries. By using a near-neutral pH electrolyte as compared to a strong alkaline solution, cycling of the zinc metal electrode is improved drastically. The coulombic efficiency of zinc plating/stripping is increased and internal short circuits due to dendritic growth of zinc metal are suppressed. The slightly acidic (pH 4-6) electrolyte also allows for new reversible (de)intercalation mechanisms to occur at the positive electrode. This has led to the development of several novel classes of electrode materials which store zinc cations.<br/><br/>Despite all of these exciting discoveries, there are still several challenges which need to be addressed before the ZIB can be brought to market. For example, dissolution of active metals from the positive electrode is exacerbated in aqueous electrolytes (particularly at pH &lt;7) compared to non-aqueous electrolytes used in standard Li-ion batteries. Dissolution of metal ions from the positive electrode can lead to rapid capacity fade, limiting the cycle life, and possible redox shuttles from reactivity of metal ions with the zinc negative electrode. Additionally, the limited stability of water in the system means a theoretical operating voltage window for the ZIB of only 1.23 V. In practice, this is extended greatly by kinetic overpotentials, but both oxygen evolution at the positive electrode and hydrogen evolution at the negative electrode still need to be taken into consideration. In this presentation, hurdles which need to be surmounted before the ZIB can be brought to market will be discussed. This presentation will also touch on the cell engineering aspects and lessons learned from Li-ion, Ni-MH, and Pb-Acid manufacturing.

Practical aspects of developing the zinc-ion battery

2019 Fall National Meeting

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