Development of energy storage system in the past year focus on improvement of energy density. While the progress is remarkable, safety problems of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have been intensively exposed. On one hand, LIB is not intrinsically safe with very active anode, flammable electrolyte and oxygen-releasing cathode; on the other hand, many application scenarios actually don’t require very high energy density.

We work on aqueous electrolyte batteries to achieve both high energy density and superior safety performance. We developed a few approaches to improve stability of Zn anode and figured out potential problems of the current Zn anode studies. We tackled the challenge of stability of Zn anode at high areal capacity and high current density by developing artificial SEI film, electrolyte regulation and organic anode development. In addition, we develop Zn powder based anode and improve their stability for more practical applications.

In terms of cathode of cathode materials, we develop various Mn, PBA, organic materials and MXenes based materials, targeting on a stable and high-capacity ones. We also develop a few cathode materials based on conversion mechanism, providing extraordinary capacity and decent voltage output. We also developed a few approaches to regulate conventional cathode materials for better stability.

Our research purpose is to develop aqueous Zn batteries for large scale energy storage with ultimate safety performance and integrate them with renewable energy systems. We hope our research can contribute to sustainable society development.