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Advanced Electrode Materials for Batteries: Design and Performance

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 1321

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Interests: aqueous zinc ion battery; lithium ion battery; li-S battery; energy materials; nanomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Interests: electrochemistry; rechargeable secondary battery; micro-/nanostructure; supercapacitors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the current progress in the field of Advanced Electrode Materials for Next-Generation “Beyond Lithium-Ion” batteries, such as sodium/potassium/zinc ion battery, lithium–sulfur battery, lithium–air battery, etc. With the material-level advancements in LIBs approaching their limits, the demand for materials with lower cost and higher energy density and the growing concerns related to natural resources have triggered the investigation of the so-called “Beyond Lithium-Ion” technologies. It is unlikely that a single “Beyond Lithium-Ion technology” will address all the issues associated with Lithium-Ion batteries. In this Special Issue, we aim to gather and facilitate research on advanced electrode materials to discuss various technologies and point out their statuses and the aspects in which they may outperform Lithium-Ion batteries.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Cong Guo
Prof. Dr. Jingfa Li
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • electrode material
  • sodium/potassium/zinc ion battery
  • lithium–sulfur battery
  • lithium–air battery
  • electrode design
  • electrochemical performances
  • micro/nanostructures

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4793 KiB  
Article
Ultrafast Rechargeable Aluminum-Chlorine Batteries Enabled by a Confined Chlorine Conversion Chemistry in Molten Salts
by Junling Huang, Linhan Xu, Yu Wang, Xiaolin Wu, Meng Zhang, Hao Zhang, Xin Tong, Changyuan Guo, Kang Han, Jianwei Li, Jiashen Meng and Xuanpeng Wang
Materials 2025, 18(8), 1868; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18081868 - 18 Apr 2025
Viewed by 189
Abstract
Rechargeable metal chloride batteries, with their high discharge voltage and specific capacity, are promising for next-generation sustainable energy storage. However, sluggish solid-to-gas conversion kinetics between solid metal chlorides and gaseous Cl2 cause unsatisfactory rate capability and limited cycle life, hindering their further [...] Read more.
Rechargeable metal chloride batteries, with their high discharge voltage and specific capacity, are promising for next-generation sustainable energy storage. However, sluggish solid-to-gas conversion kinetics between solid metal chlorides and gaseous Cl2 cause unsatisfactory rate capability and limited cycle life, hindering their further applications. Here we present a rechargeable aluminum-chlorine (Al-Cl2) battery that relies on a confined chlorine conversion chemistry in a molten salt electrolyte, exhibiting ultrahigh rate capability and excellent cycling stability. Both experimental analysis and theoretical calculations reveal a reversible solution-to-gas conversion reaction between AlCl4 and Cl2 in the cathode. The designed nitrogen-doped porous carbon cathode enhances Cl2 adsorption, thereby improving the cycling lifespan and coulombic efficiency of the battery. The resulting Al-Cl2 battery demonstrates a high discharge plateau of 1.95 V, remarkable rate capability without capacity decay at different rates from 5 to 50 A g−1, and good cycling stability with over 1200 cycles at a rate of 10 A g−1. Additionally, we implemented a carbon nanofiber membrane on the anode side to mitigate dendrite growth, which further extends the cycle life to 3000 cycles at an ultrahigh rate of 30 A g−1. This work provides a new perspective on the advancement of high-rate metal chloride batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Electrode Materials for Batteries: Design and Performance)
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21 pages, 8160 KiB  
Article
Solid-State Diffusion Bonding of Aluminum to Copper for Bimetallic Anode Fabrication
by Javier de Prado, Børre Tore Børresen, Victoria Utrilla and Alejandro Ureña
Materials 2024, 17(21), 5333; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17215333 - 31 Oct 2024
Viewed by 802
Abstract
The diffusion-bonding technique has been utilized to join various Al alloys (AA1060, AA2024, AA3003) to Cu for bimetallic anode application. This process aims to achieve robust metallic continuity to facilitate electron transfer, while carefully managing the growth of the intermetallic layer at the [...] Read more.
The diffusion-bonding technique has been utilized to join various Al alloys (AA1060, AA2024, AA3003) to Cu for bimetallic anode application. This process aims to achieve robust metallic continuity to facilitate electron transfer, while carefully managing the growth of the intermetallic layer at the bonding interface. This control preserves the active volume of aluminum and prevents excessive brittleness of the anode. Optimization efforts have focused on different pressures, surface treatments of parent materials, and bonding parameters (temperature 450–500 °C and time 5–60 min). The optimal conditions identified include low bonding pressures (8 MPa), surface treatment involving polishing followed by chemical cleaning of the surfaces to be bonded, and energetic bonding conditions tailored to each specific aluminum alloy. Preliminary electrochemical characterization via cyclic voltammetry (CV) tests has demonstrated high reversibility intercalation/deintercalation reactions for up to seven cycles. The presence of the different alloying elements appears to contribute significantly to maintaining the high intercalation/deintercalation reaction reversibility without considerable modification of the reaction potentials. This effect may be attributed to alloying elements effectively reducing the overall alloy volume expansion, potentially forming highly reversible ternary/quaternary active phases, and creating a porous reaction layer on the exposed aluminum surface. These factors along with the influence of the Cu parent material collectively reduce the stress during volume expansion, which is the responsible phenomenon of the anode degradation in common Al anodes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Electrode Materials for Batteries: Design and Performance)
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