(Invited) Transport Limits for Zinc Aqueous Electrolyte Batteries: Investigation over Multiple Length Scales

Large scale grid level storage would benefit from low cost environmentally sustainable batteries. A system class under investigation is rechargeable zinc anode batteries utilizing aqueous electrolytes. These systems hold promise due to their potential for safe low-cost scalable energy storage. Consideration of the systems over various length scales is warranted due to the complexity of the possible reactions and pernicious parasitic processes. Further, the diversity and intricacies of these battery systems inherently reduce the probability of optimization experiments alone resulting in marketable products. Many of the fundamental issues influencing ion and electron transport and electron transfer and how the transport phenomena evolve under flux are not yet fully undefined. More complete understanding demands multiple characterization approaches used in concert, to tie together information gathered at the local or atomic level and the mesoscale with systems level performance from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), galvanostatic cycling (GC), and related techniques. This presentation will provide insight into probes of the reaction mechanisms, evolution of zinc interfaces, methods to determine limitations of cathode function at high rate, and impact of the findings on the electrochemical behavior of the batteries.