AVS 62nd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Energy Frontiers Focus Topic Tuesday Sessions
       Session EN+EM+NS+SE+SS+TF-TuA

Invited Paper EN+EM+NS+SE+SS+TF-TuA7
The Road beyond Lithium Batteries is Paved — In Three Dimensions — With Rechargeable, Dendrite-Free Zinc

Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 4:20 pm, Room 211B

Session: Batteries and Supercapacitors
Presenter: Debra Rolison, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Authors: D.R. Rolison, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
J.F. Parker, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
C.N. Chervin, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
I.R. Pala, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
M.D. Wattendorf, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
J.W. Long, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Lithium-ion batteries dominate the energy-storage landscape, but do so with the ever-present threat of thermal runaway and conflagration courtesy of flammable electrolytes and oxygen-releasing electrode materials. Fortunately, Zn-based batteries offer a compelling alternative grounded in the innate safety and cost advantages of aqueous electrolytes augmented by the high earth-abundance of Zn and the high energy density of Zn-based batteries (comparable to Li-ion). Traditional Zn-based batteries provide suboptimal utilization of the zinc (typically <60% of theoretical capacity) and poor rechargeability—thanks to the complex dissolution/precipitation processes that accompany Zn/Zn2+ cycling of conventional powder-bed Zn electrode structures in alkaline electrolyte. We address these limitations by redesigning the zinc anode as a porous, 3D-wired “sponge” architecture. Zinc sponge electrodes achieve >90% Zn utilization when discharged in primary Zn–air cells, retaining both the 3D framework of the Zn sponge and an impedance characteristic of the metal thanks to an inner metallic core of 3D zinc. When cycled in Ag–Zn and Ni–Zn cells, the Zn sponges retain monolithicity and reveal uniform deposition of charge/discharge products at the external and internal surfaces, even to deep depth-of-discharge of the zinc. These results show that all Zn-based chemistries can now be reformulated for next-generation rechargeable, Li-free batteries