Nanowerk March 16, 2022
Although aqueous rechargeable zinc-iodine batteries (ZIBs) emerged as a promising energy storage alternative they suffer from the severe shuttle effect of polyiodide and poor reversibility, leading to the poor cycling lifetime and potential safety issues. Researchers in China found that the assembly of Al-based metal-organic frameworks (Al-MOFs) in the presence of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) via electrospinning technique enabled the formation of Al-MOF/PAN fibers. With the subsequent pyrolysis, the hierarchical porous carbon fibers with nitrogen doping (NPCNFs) are prepared for loading iodine. The confinement effect of the porous carbon network and the nitrogen doping, inhibits the shuttle effect of polyiodide species. The reversible two-step conversion reaction between iodine and polyiodide enables the best cycling stability for over 6,000 cycles with negligible capacity. The work demonstrates an efficient approach to regulating the porous structure and surface properties in the design of advanced iodine electrodes for high-performance ZIBs…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Graphical abstract. Credit: Science China Chemistry volume 65, pages391–398 (2022)