Zhenzhen Wu

Aluminum–air batteries (AABs), known for their high energy density, environmental friendliness, and cost‐effectiveness, show immense promise in the realm of energy conversion applications. Nonetheless, their commercialization has encountered inherent challenges of Al anode corrosion and material degradation. In this study, economical hybrid electrolyte additives to inhibit the Al corrosion are developed, safeguarding the integrity of the Al anode. Due to the synergistic interplay between the organic compound dithiothreitol, and inorganic compounds zinc chloride, a robust zinc film is formed on the Al surface This Zn film plays a pivotal role in quelling parasitic hydrogen evolution reactions that typically can plague the Al electrode. Consequently, the as‐prepared hybrid additive culminates in a remarkable enhancement to AABs, delivering exceptional discharge capacity of 1793.37 mAh g −1 , high energy density of 2047 Wh kg −1 , and excellent battery longevity (over 20 h in on/off cycling tests). This study, therefore, introduces a novel approach in utilizing hybrid electrolyte additives to effectively counteract corrosion‐related challenges and boost the stability and performance of AABs.

Organic electrode materials (OEMs), valued for their sustainability and structural tunability, have been attracting increasing attention for wide application in sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) and other rechargeable batteries. However, most OEMs are plagued with insufficient specific capacity or poor cycling stability. Therefore, it′s imperative to enhance their specific capacity and cycling stability through molecular design. Herein, we designed and synthesized a heteroaromatic molecule 2,3,8,9,14,15‐hexanol hexaazatrinaphthalene (HATN‐6OH) by the synergetic coupling of catechol (the precursor of ortho ‐quinone)/ ortho ‐quinone functional groups and HATN conjugated core structures. The abundance of catechol/ ortho ‐quinone and imine redox‐active moieties delivers a high specific capacity of nine‐electron transfer for SIBs. Most notably, the π–π interactions and intermolecular hydrogen bond forces among HATN‐6OH molecules secure the stable long‐term cycling performance of SIBs. Consequently, the as‐prepared HATN‐6OH electrode exhibited a high specific capacity (554 mAh g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 ), excellent rate capability (202 mAh g −1 at 10 A g −1 ), and stable long‐term cycling performance (73 % after 3000 cycles at 10 A g −1 ) in SIBs. Additionally, the nine‐electron transfer mechanism is confirmed by systematic density functional theory (DFT) calculation, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR), and Raman analysis. The achievement of the synergetic coupling of the redox‐active sites on OEMs could be an important key to the enhancement of SIBs and other metal‐ion batteries.