Zinc based alloys for stable and high-performance seawater-based aqueous batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12424619-B2
Application number	US-202318392517-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2023
Priority date	Jan 11, 2021
Publication date	Sep 23, 2025
Grant date	Sep 23, 2025

Abstract

An alloy anode for a seawater based aqueous battery and a universal strategy for preparing anodes for use in seawater based aqueous batteries. Zn-M alloys (where M can be manganese or other transition metal) were prepared by co-electrodeposition in the presence of hydrogen bubble formation to produce a porous nanostructured alloy that can serve as an anode for a seawater based aqueous battery. Exemplary Zn—Mn alloy anodes achieved stability over thousands of cycles even under harsh electrochemical conditions, including testing in seawater-based aqueous electrolytes and using a high current density of 80 mA cm−2. The anode design strategy allows for the production of durable electrodes for aqueous batteries and other applications.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method of making an anode for an aqueous battery, comprising:
co-electrodepositing ions of zinc and ions of a transition metal on a substrate; and
simultaneously facilitating hydrogen bubble evolution at a solid/liquid interface of the substrate during the co-electrodeposition of the ions of zinc and the ions of the transition metal to form a coating on the substrate comprising a porous alloy of zinc and the transition metal forming an anode comprising the coated substrate, wherein the coating remains dendrite-free at current densities of up to 80 mA cm −2 in an aqueous battery.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the co-electrodepositing the ions of zinc and the ions of the transition metal occurs at a current density of 0.3 A cm −2 .

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the co-electrodepositing the ions of zinc and the ions of the transition metal is performed for a time period of between 10 and 40 minutes.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal comprises manganese.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal comprises copper.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alloy comprises Zn 3 Mn.

7. A method of making an anode for an aqueous battery, comprising:
co-electrodepositing ions of zinc and ions of a transition metal on a substrate; and
simultaneously facilitating hydrogen bubble evolution at a solid/liquid interface of the substrate during the co-electrodeposition of the ions of zinc and the ions of the transition metal to form a coating on the substrate comprising a porous alloy of zinc and the transition metal forming an anode comprising the coated substrate, wherein the coating comprises a plurality of pores having a diameter between five nanometers and 50 micrometers or between 1 nanometer and 10 nanometers.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the co-electrodepositing the ions of zinc and the ions of the transition metal occurs at a current density of 0.3 A cm −2 .

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the co-electrodepositing the ions of zinc and the ions of the transition metal is performed for a time period of between 10 and 40 minutes.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the transition metal comprises manganese.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the transition metal comprises copper.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the alloy comprises Zn 3 Mn.

13. A method of making an anode for an aqueous battery, comprising:
co-electrodepositing ions of zinc and ions of either copper or manganese on a substrate; and
simultaneously facilitating hydrogen bubble evolution at a solid/liquid interface of the substrate during the co-electrodeposition of the ions of zinc and the ions of either copper or manganese to form a coating on the substrate comprising a porous alloy of zinc and either copper or manganese forming an anode comprising the coated substrate.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the co-electrodepositing the ions occurs at a current density of 0.3 A cm −2 .

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the co-electrodepositing the ions is performed for a time period of between 10 and 40 minutes.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the coating comprises a plurality of pores having a diameter between five nanometers and 50 micrometers.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the coating comprises a plurality of pores having a diameter between 1 nanometer and 10 nanometers.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the coating comprises a plurality of pores having a diameter from 1.76 nanometers to 5.8 nanometers.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the alloy comprises Zn 3 Mn.

Assignees

• Yang Yang
• Univ Central Florida Res Found Inc

Inventors

• Yang Yang

Classifications

• H01M2300/0002

  Aqueous electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M4/045 Primary

  Electrochemical coating; Electrochemical impregnation · CPC title

• H01M2004/027

  Negative electrodes · CPC title

• H01M2004/021

  Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area · CPC title

• H01M10/36

  Accumulators not provided for in groups H01M10/05-H01M10/34 · CPC title