Intercalation of Zinc Monochloride Cations by Deep Eutectic Solvents for High-Performance Rechargeable Non-aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries

Zinc ion batteries have been extensively studied with an aqueous electrolyte system. However, the batteries suffer from a limited potential window, gas evolution, cathode dissolution, and dendrite formation on the anode. Considering these limitations, we developed an alternative electrolyte system based on deep eutectic solvents (DESs) because of their low cost, high stability, biodegradability, and non-flammability, making them optimal candidates for sustainable batteries. The DES electrolyte enables reversible Zn plating/stripping and effectively suppresses zinc dendrite formation. Furthermore, in-depth characterizations reveal that the energy storage mechanism can be attributed to [ZnCl]⁺ ion intercalation and the intermediate complex ion plays a pivotal role in electrochemical reactions, which deliver a high reversible capacity of 310 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹and long-term stability (167 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.3 A g⁻¹ after 300 cycles, Coulombic efficiency: ∼98%). Overall, this work represents our new finding in rechargeable batteries with the DES electrolyte.