posted on 2021-12-10, 12:04authored byHong Zhang, Zhoutai Shang, Gen Luo, Shuhong Jiao, Ruiguo Cao, Qianwang Chen, Ke Lu
In aqueous Zn-ion batteries, the
intercalation chemistry often
foil attempts at the realization of high energy density. Unlocking
the full potential of zinc–sulfur redox chemistry requires
the manipulation of the feedbacks between kinetic response and the
cathode’s composition. The cell degradation mechanism also
should be tracked simultaneously. Herein, we design a high-energy
Zn–S system where the high-capacity cathode was fabricated
by in situ interfacial polymerization of Fe(CN)64–-doped polyaniline within the sulfur nanoparticle.
Compared with sulfur, the FeII/III(CN)64/3– redox mediators exhibit substantially faster cation
(de)insertion kinetics. The higher cathodic potential (FeII(CN)64–/FeIII(CN)63– ∼ 0.8 V vs S/S2– ∼
0.4 V) spontaneously catalyzes the full reduction of sulfur during
battery discharge (S8 + Zn2FeII(CN)6 ↔ ZnS + Zn1.5FeIII(CN)6, ΔG = −24.7 kJ mol–1). The open iron redox species render a lower energy barrier to ZnS
activation during the reverse charging process, and the facile Zn2+ intercalative transport facilitates highly reversible conversion
between S and ZnS. The yolk–shell structured cathode with 70
wt % sulfur delivers a reversible capacity of 1205 mAh g–1 with a flat operation voltage of 0.58 V, a fade rate over 200 cycles
of 0.23%/cycle, and an energy density of 720 Wh kgsulfur–1. A range of ex situ investigations
reveal the degradation nature of Zn–S cells: aggregation of
inactive ZnS nanocrystals rather than the depletion of Zn anode. Impressively,
the flexible solid-state Zn battery employing the composite cathode
was assembled, realizing an energy density of 375 Wh kgsulfur–1. The proposed redox electrocatalysis effect
provides reliable insights into the tunable Zn–S chemistry.