journal article·2026-04Open access

Self‐Assembled Molecular Capsule via Metastable Soft Interface for Stable Aqueous Batteries

Kaiqiang Zhang, Haoning Xi, Shengtao Yang, Qinhan Yang, Jilei Ye, Yuping Wu

Advanced Energy Materials· Volume 16· Issue 13

Abstract

ABSTRACT Organic redox materials hold great promise for sustainable energy storage due to their structural tunability and elemental abundance. However, their practical application remains hindered by rapid degradation during repeated electrochemical reactions, primarily caused by side processes involving water and unstable redox intermediates. Here, we report a metastable, rehydration‐stable molecular capsule formed through the interfacial self‐assembly of amphiphilic Pluronic F127 on hydrophobic 2‐ethyl‐anthraquinone (2‐E‐AQ) particles. The hydrophobic polypropylene oxide segments anchor onto the 2‐E‐AQ surface, while the hydrophilic polyethylene oxide chains form a soft, ion‐permeable shell that endures drying and reconstructs a gel‐like interface upon rehydration, bridging solid‐liquid boundaries. Integrated into an aqueous 2‐E‐AQ||Li 2 SO 4 ||NaI battery, this soft‐interface design stabilizes ion transport and suppresses redox degradation, achieving 99.7% Coulombic efficiency and 85.4% capacity retention after 300 cycles. This work introduces an interface‐induced self‐assembly paradigm for stabilizing hydrophobic organic redox materials and provides a general framework for constructing adaptive soft interfaces in aqueous electrochemical systems.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced battery technologies research · Advancements in Battery Materials · Covalent Organic Framework Applications

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Energy Sciences and Engineering Nanjing Tech University Nanjing Jiangsu China

Confucius Energy Storage Lab School of Energy and Envirnoment & Z Energy Storage Center Southeast University Nanjing China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province

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