Electrolyte and Electrode Design for Next-Generation Rechargeable Batteries
A special issue of Batteries (ISSN 2313-0105). This special issue belongs to the section "Battery Materials and Interfaces: Anode, Cathode, Separators and Electrolytes or Others".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 June 2025 | Viewed by 6919
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Designing qualified electrolytes and electrodes is key to the success of emerging battery systems. Electrode materials play an important role in the energy density, power density, and cycling life of batteries, and the design of reasonable electrode materials is essential to promote the development of novel battery technologies. As the only component that interfaces with every other component in the batteries, the electrolyte must simultaneously satisfy several criteria, including rapid ion and mass transportation, effective electron insulation, and electrochemical inertness. The associated electrolyte–electrode interfacing chemistry is the essence of electrolyte engineering, dictating the power, energy, and reversibility of the battery during its entire service life. This Special Issue will cover the key topics in next-generation “beyond Li-ion” battery technologies, including electrolytes, electrodes, and interphases.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Novel battery systems;
- Novel anode and cathode materials;
- Li/Na/K/Zn metal anode;
- Catalysts design for electrolytic water systems, fuel cells, Li-O2 batteries, etc.;
- Electrolyte adjustment;
- All-solid-state electrolyte design and batteries;
- Solid electrolyte interface;
- Electrochemical principles;
- Failure mechanism of batteries.
- Full batteries.
Dr. Shaokun Chong
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Batteries is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- rechargeable batteries
- sodium-ion batteries
- potassium-ion batteries
- lithium-ion batteries
- Li-S batteries
- Li-O2 batteries
- electrocatalysis
- Zn/Mg-ion batteries
- electrode materials
- electrolyte engineering
- electrochemical mechanism
- electrochemical performances
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: 1T phase transition-metal dichalcogenides for excellent electrochemical hydrogen production
Authors: Zhengqing Liu
Affiliation: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Title: ZIF67 nanocrystals anchored on MoO3 nanorods as the composite electrocatalysts for efficient oxygen evolution reaction
Authors: Xuedong Wei
Affiliation: Shanxi Normal University
Title: Cu2+ ion doping and carbon wrapping flower-like MoO2 cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries
Authors: Fang Hu
Affiliation: Ningbo University
Abstract: Molybdenum dioxide (MoO2), with its high theoretical capacity, excellent metallic conductivity, and safety properties, has emerged as a promising cathode material for aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs). Nonetheless, it is hampered by significant barriers in practical applications due to its structural collapse and inherent low conductivity. Herein, a layered MoO2 structure doped with Cu2+ and carbon coatings greatly improved the capacity and lifetime of MoO2 cathode materials during charge/discharge cycling. Embedment of Cu2+ ions enriched the host MoO2 structure with a profusion of active electrochemical sites and enhancing the electrochemical cycles reversibility. The incorporation of a carbon layer serves to reinforce the structural integrity of the host material, thereby mitigating the extent of structural perturbations throughout successive ionic intercalation and de-intercalation cycles. Furthermore, the distinctive nanoflower morphology significantly expands the area available for ion exchange and improves the kinetics of ion transport. Consequently, the Cu2+ doped MoO2 cathode material manifests extraordinary Zn2+ accommodation capabilities, with a significant enhancement in maximum specific capacity, achieving maximum 340.2 mAh g-1 at a discharge rate of 0.2 A g-1. Moreover, the storage dynamics of Zn2+ ions coupled with the exemplar structural stability were elucidated through a combination of ex-situ XRD analyses. This study lays the foundation for further exploration of metal-ion intercalated molybdenum oxides for use as aqueous zinc ion batteries.
Title: Study of cathode materials for Na-ion batteries: comparison between machine learning predictions and density functional theory calculations
Authors: Claudio Ronchetti; Sara Marchio; Francesco Buonocore; Simone Giusepponi; Sergio Ferlito; Massimo Celino
Affiliation: Italian National Agency for New Technologies Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
Abstract: Energy storage technologies have experienced significant advancements in the last decades, driven by the growing demand for efficient and sustainable energy solutions. The limitations associated with lithium supply chain, cost, and safety concerns have prompted the exploration of alternative battery chemistries. For this reason, the research to replace the widespread lithium batteries by sodium-ion batteries has received more and more attention. In the present work we report cutting-edge research, where we explored a wide range of compositions of cathode materials for Na-ion batteries by first-principles calculations using workflow chains developed within the AiiDA framework. We trained crystal graph convolutional neural networks and geometric crystal graph neural networks, and we demonstrate the ability of the machine learning algorithms to predict the formation energy of the candidate materials as calculated by the density functional theory. This materials discovery approach is disruptive and significantly faster than traditional physics-based computational methods.
