title: An ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery.
abstract: The development of new rechargeable battery systems could fuel various energy applications, from personal electronics to grid storage. Rechargeable aluminium-based batteries offer the possibilities of low cost and low flammability, together with three-electron-redox properties leading to high capacity. However, research efforts over the past 30 years have encountered numerous problems, such as cathode material disintegration, low cell discharge voltage (about 0.55 volts; ref. 5), capacitive behaviour without discharge voltage plateaus (1.1-0.2 volts or 1.8-0.8 volts) and insufficient cycle life (less than 100 cycles) with rapid capacity decay (by 26-85 per cent over 100 cycles). Here we present a rechargeable aluminium battery with high-rate capability that uses an aluminium metal anode and a three-dimensional graphitic-foam cathode. The battery operates through the electrochemical deposition and dissolution of aluminium at the anode, and intercalation/de-intercalation of chloroaluminate anions in the graphite, using a non-flammable ionic liquid electrolyte. The cell exhibits well-defined discharge voltage plateaus near 2 volts, a specific capacity of about 70 mA h g(-1) and a Coulombic efficiency of approximately 98 per cent. The cathode was found to enable fast anion diffusion and intercalation, affording charging times of around one minute with a current density of ~4,000 mA g(-1) (equivalent to ~3,000 W kg(-1)), and to withstand more than 7,500 cycles without capacity decay.
authors: 1] Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA [2] Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu 31040, Taiwan.
authors: Meng-Chang
authors: MC
authors: Lin
authors: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Gong
authors: 1] Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA [2] School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
authors: Bingan
authors: B
authors: Lu
authors: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors: Yingpeng
authors: Y
authors: Wu
authors: 1] Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA [2] Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan [3] Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
authors: Di-Yan
authors: DY
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors: Mingyun
authors: M
authors: Guan
authors: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Angell
authors: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors: Changxin
authors: C
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors: Jiang
authors: J
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan.
authors: Bing-Joe
authors: BJ
authors: Hwang
authors: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors: Hongjie
authors: H
authors: Dai