We are currently focused on the following three major areas:

1、Multivalent metal-ion based battery

    Multivalent metal-ions rechargeable batteries using nonflammable, aqueous electrolyte to replace toxic and flammable organic electrolyte well address the issues on expensive lithium resources and low safety. Especially, these multivalent metal-ion based batteries can also take the merits in high specific capacity owing to multivalent ions transfer mechanism. The Hu research group is interested in the development of  the novel multivalent metal-ion based batteries using Zn2+, Mg2+, Al3+, Fe2+ as the charge carries. Its energy storage mechanism in electrode, electrolyte and electrode/electrolyte interface is studied in various energy materials. We also tried to developed new strategy to well address the sluggish kinetics in the cathode, the issues on the metal-based anode including dendrites growth, anode corrosion/passivation, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and side reactions.

Representative articles:
Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2312982.
Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2405889
Adv. Energy Mater. 2022, 12, 2200654.
Energy Environ. Sci. 2021, 14, 4095.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 134, e202214244.

2、Non-metal Ion Batteries

    Compared with the metal-ions, the non-metallic charge carriers exhibit lighter molar mass, smaller hydrated ion size, and fast ion diffusion ability in aqueous electrolytes. More importantly, non-metallic cation batteries offer advantage on superior long-term lifespan than the metal-ion batteries originating from the absence of dendritic growth behavior during the charge/discharge cycles. Among various non-metallic cations, NH4+ delivers some unique properties such as the smallest hydrated ionic size to facilitate fast diffusion in aqueous electrolyte, less corrosive and suffering less hydrogen evolution. Nevertheless, their development is severely challenged by the fact that the as-reported cathode materials generally fail to satisfy the requirements on high capacity and stable working voltage simultaneously.

    Based on different synthesis methods, we are keenly interested in the design and synthesis of ammonium ion storage electrodes with stable voltage platform and large specific capacity. Alternatively, we try to find electrode materials with excellent electrochemical properties for reversible ammonium ion intercalation/de-intercalation. We hope our researches could provide new insight into the design, synthesis and modification of advanced ammonium storage devices.

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Representative articles:
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202303480
Nature Commun. 2024, 15, 1934
Adv. Energy Mater. 2024, 2402863
Adv. Energy Mater. 2023, 13, 2202908

3、Metal-Air batteries.

    Metal-air batteries are a novel energy storage technology that generates electrical energy through the chemical reaction between a metal anode and oxygen from the air. Compared to traditional batteries, they offer higher energy density and environmental friendliness, utilizing oxygen from the air. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) as a key half-reaction plays a central role in metal-air batteries. However, the efficiency of OER in basic electrolyte is largely hindered by its sluggish kinetic and large overpotential resulting from the complex oxidation pathway.

    Recently, we have successfully designed a solution-based synthesis of Co-based selenite (CoSeO3·H2O) nanosheets used as the high-performance electrode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion battery and flexible supercapacitors owing to its rapid amorphization behavior and typical pseudocapacitive characteristic, respectively. We consider that such a selenite could also be promising electrocatalyst for OER.

   

Representative articles:
Advanced Materials 2021, 33, 2007523.
Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2021, 284, 119758.