Lantao Liu

Pitch-based hard carbon (HC) is an ideal anode material for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) due to its low-cost and high pressure density. However, currently converting pitch, a soft carbon, into HC usually takes several tens of hours, greatly affecting production efficiency. In this paper, we prepared a high-performance pitch-based HC anode material for SIBs through two-step modification. The first modification rapidly and preliminarily crosslinks pitch molecules through strong acid solid-liquid reaction, while the second modification strengthens crosslinking through gas-solid reaction, successfully transforming petroleum pitch from soft carbon to HC and significantly reducing reaction time (the total reaction time only needs 3-5 hours). When used as anode for SIBs, the reversible specific capacity increased from 120.5 mAh g-1 to 326.3 mAh g-1, and the initial coulombic efficiency increased from 38.3% to 61.2%. This method provides industrial prospects for the rapid production of pitch-based HC anode.

As one of the most promising anodes for aqueous batteries, Zn metal faces uncontrollable side reactions and deleterious dendrite growth, which drastically compromise its cycle life and coulombic efficiency (CE). In this work, a bi‐functional and environmentally‐friendly high‐performance electrolyte is prepared by introducing maleic anhydride (MA) as an additive. In situ/ex situ experiments and simulation indicate that MA can enter the Zn²⁺ solvated sheath to replace the distribution of some water molecules and form a cross‐linked hydrogen bond network with H₂O to inhibit the side reactions caused by the decomposition of active water molecules. In addition, MA can induce uniform deposition of Zn by adsorption on Zn (002) crystal surface and inhibit dendrite growth. The symmetric cells assembled with MA as the electrolyte additive have a long cycle life of 4000 h at 25 °C and can be stably cycled for >400 h at −8 °C (1 mA cm⁻²/1 mAh cm⁻²). In the presence of MA in the electrolyte, Zn//MnO₂ full cell shows good cycle stability over 200 cycles (N/P = 4.1). This study reports a simple and effective strategy for promoting the commercial application of aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs).

Zinc metal batteries have recently emerged as a promising stable and reversible anode aqueous battery. However, due to the serious dendrite problem and hydrogen evolution problem of the zinc metal anode, the practical application of the zinc metal battery is limited. Here, we propose Y₂O₃ as an effective coating, which inhibits hydrogen evolution and side reactions by physical isolation and simultaneously prevents dendrite growth by ensuring a uniform Zn-ion flux and fast transport channels generated by Maxwell-Wagner polarization, thus improving the stability of batteries. Meanwhile, in situ/ex situ characterizations and different simulations are conducted to investigate in detail the effect of Maxwell-Wagner polarization on the performance of Zn metal batteries. The symmetric Y₂O₃@Zn anode system exhibits a stable electroplating/stripping performance over 780 h and enables the Zn battery to achieve a Coulombic efficiency of up to 99.81% over 1000 cycles by reducing side reactions. The Y₂O₃@Zn||MnO₂ full cell delivers a high energy density of 301.42 Wh kg^-1 at a power density of 205.04 W kg^-1. The work provides insights into the reversibility and stability of zinc anodes and provides a promising way to promote the practical application of Zn metal batteries.