Chengjun Xu

Corrigendum: Enhancement on Cycle Performance of Zn Anodes by Activated Carbon Modification for Neutral Rechargeable Zinc Ion Batteries [J. Electrochem. Soc., 162, A1439 (2015)], Li, Hongfei, Xu, Chengjun, Han, Cuiping, Chen, Yanyi, Wei, Chunguang, Li, Baohua, Kang, Feiyu

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have been gaining increasing interest for large-scale energy storage applications due to their high safety, good rate capability, and low cost. However, the further development of ZIBs is impeded by two main challenges: Currently reported cathode materials usually suffer from rapid capacity fading or high toxicity, and meanwhile, unstable zinc stripping/plating on Zn anode seriously shortens the cycling life of ZIBs. In this paper, metal–organic framework (MOF) materials are proposed to simultaneously address these issues and realize high-performance ZIBs with Mn(BTC) MOF cathodes and ZIF-8-coated Zn (ZIF-8@Zn) anodes. Various MOF materials were synthesized, and Mn(BTC) MOF was found to exhibit the best Zn²⁺-storage ability with a capacity of 112 mAh g⁻¹. Zn²⁺ storage mechanism of the Mn(BTC) was carefully studied. Besides, ZIF-8@Zn anodes were prepared by coating ZIF-8 MOF material on Zn foils. Unique porous structure of the ZIF-8 coating guided uniform Zn stripping/plating on the surface of Zn anodes. As a result, the ZIF-8@Zn anodes exhibited stable Zn stripping/plating behaviors, with 8 times longer cycle life than bare Zn foils. Based on the above, high-performance aqueous ZIBs were constructed using the Mn(BTC) cathodes and the ZIF-8@Zn anodes, which displayed an excellent long-cycling stability without obvious capacity fading after 900 charge/discharge cycles. This work provides a new opportunity for high-performance energy storage system.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion hybrid capacitors and zinc-ion batteries are promising safe energy storage systems. In this study, amorphous RuO₂·H₂O for the first time was employed to achieve fast and ultralong-life Zn²⁺ storage based on a pseudocapacitive storage mechanism. In the RuO₂·H₂O||Zn zinc-ion hybrid capacitors with Zn(CF₃SO₃)₂ aqueous electrolyte, the RuO₂·H₂O cathode can reversibly store Zn²⁺ in a voltage window of 0.4–1.6 V (vs. Zn/Zn²⁺), delivering a high discharge capacity of 122 mAh g⁻¹. In particular, the zinc-ion hybrid capacitors can be rapidly charged/discharged within 36 s with a very high power density of 16.74 kW kg⁻¹ and a high energy density of 82 Wh kg⁻¹. Besides, the zinc-ion hybrid capacitors demonstrate an ultralong cycle life (over 10,000 charge/discharge cycles). The kinetic analysis elucidates that the ultrafast Zn²⁺ storage in the RuO₂·H₂O cathode originates from redox pseudocapacitive reactions. This work could greatly facilitate the development of high-power and safe electrochemical energy storage.

Highlights Pourbaix diagram of Mn–Zn–H₂O system was used to analyze the charge–discharge processes of Zn/MnO₂ batteries. Electrochemical reactions with the participation of various ions inside Zn/MnO₂ batteries were revealed. A detailed explanation of phase evolution inside Zn/MnO₂ batteries was provided.

MnO ₂ is a traditional cathode material for aqueous zinc‐ion battery (ZIB). However, its extensive use is limited by its poor conductivity and cycling performance. Design of binary or ternary MnO ₂ composites is a useful way to enhance the performance of MnO ₂ . At first, a series of binary MnO ₂ /carbon nanotube (CNT) composites with different CNT contents were synthesized by a facile co‐precipitation method. The effect of CNT content on the properties of binary composites was investigated. In addition, the ternary MnO ₂ /CNT/polyaniline (PANI) composites were prepared to investigate the effect of unitary, binary and ternary composites on the MnO ₂ . The results show that an appropriate content of CNT decreases the charge transfer resistance of the composite leading to a good electrochemical performance. The addition of PANI stabilizes the cycle performance of the composite at a cost of a slight decrease in the specific capacity.