journal article·2026-07-07

Switching from insertion to conversion for multielectron aqueous vanadium batteries

Hongrun Jin, Wanhai Zhou, Jinchi Li, Xinran Li, Zefang Yang, Chongran Wang, Yanyan Zhang, Ningyu Wu, Yutong Feng, Gaoyang Li, Zhihao Sun, Xiaoyu Yu, Junwei Zhang, Zhuo Yang, Tengsheng Zhang, Shixiang Ding, Xinxin Song, Lin Liu, Yifeng Wang, Chao Ye, Laiquan Li, Wei Li, Xin Liu, Dongyuan Zhao, Hong Jin Fan, Dongliang Chao

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Abstract

Conventional vanadium chemistries have been hindered by limited capacity inherent to the ion-insertion mechanism and modest redox potentials in near-neutral media, constraining their suitability for high-energy aqueous batteries. Here we demonstrate a conversion-type vanadium redox that delivers concomitant superiority in capacity and potential for aqueous batteries. OH--mediated chemical activation promotes V-O bond cleavage, thereby driving a transition from the single-electron insertion reaction to the four-electron conversion reaction. As confirmed by in situ synchrotron characterizations, a tailored mesoporous architecture enriches local OH-, facilitating the reversible conversion between V2O3 and Na3VO4. The conversion anode delivers a high specific capacity of 700 mAh g-1 with 98% vanadium utilization, a low redox potential of -0.95 V versus standard hydrogen electrode and reversible cycling over 3,000 cycles. An alkaline Ni-V battery is fabricated, with a projected whole-battery-level energy density of up to 110 Wh kg-1. This work paves the way to tuning the reaction pathway and offers insights into multielectron redox design for next-generation aqueous batteries.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced battery technologies research · Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion · Advancements in Battery Materials

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