Scientists have developed a new battery design that improves renewable energy storage by using water-based zinc batteries to solve long-standing stability and efficiency challenges.
As solar panels and wind turbines become more common worldwide, the need to store the energy they generate is becoming more urgent. Renewable energy is not constant.
Solar power depends on sunlight, and wind energy depends on weather conditions. Without reliable storage, much of this energy cannot be used when it is most needed.
One promising solution has been aqueous zinc batteries. These batteries use water-based electrolytes and zinc metal as a core component. They are considered safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly than many existing battery technologies, especially lithium-based systems.
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However, zinc batteries have struggled to reach their full potential. During operation, water molecules inside the battery can break down, leading to unwanted chemical reactions. At the same time, tiny structures called dendrites form on the zinc surface. These needle-like formations reduce performance and can damage the battery over time.
To solve these problems, researchers from the University of Maryland and Brookhaven National Laboratory developed a new type of electrolyte. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Electrolytes are the medium through which ions move inside a battery. In this case, the researchers focused on improving how zinc ions interact with their surrounding environment at the molecular level.
The team created a new electrolyte by combining water with carefully chosen salts. These salts were designed to influence the behavior of negatively charged ions, known as anions, near zinc ions. This interaction plays a key role in stabilizing the battery during operation.
Chunsheng Wang, the senior author of the study, explained the motivation behind the work. “We developed water-in-salt electrolytes that extended the electrochemical stability window to 3.0 volts,” he said. “However, those electrolytes increase cost and reduce conductivity. In this work, we developed low-concentration aqueous electrolytes that perform similarly, but with lower cost and better efficiency.”
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The research was led by Dejian Dong, who focused on designing electrolytes that improve performance without adding complexity or cost. His team introduced fluorinated anions into the solution, which interact not only with zinc ions but also with surrounding water molecules.
This led to the formation of an anion-bridged secondary solvation sheath. In simple terms, this is a protective structure around zinc ions that stabilizes the battery’s internal chemistry.
“This structure helps protect zinc from unwanted reactions with water,” Dong said. “It also supports stable performance while keeping ion movement efficient.”
One of the key findings concerns donor numbers. These numbers describe how strongly a chemical compound can donate electrons. The team discovered that salts with donor numbers above 18 significantly improved ion interactions within the battery.
By focusing on this property, the researchers reduced the formation of zinc dendrites and improved overall battery stability. Unlike earlier designs that improved one feature while weakening another, this approach enhances multiple properties simultaneously.
Dong highlighted this advantage clearly. “The key innovation is regulating the secondary solvation structure,” he said. “This allows us to improve conductivity, stability, and cost together.”
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To test their design, the researchers built zinc batteries using the new electrolytes and ran a series of experiments. The results were strong.
The batteries achieved a coulombic efficiency of 99.99 percent over 1,000 cycles. This means almost all the energy stored in the battery was successfully recovered during use. They also reached energy densities of up to 130 watt-hours per kilogram, which is competitive for this type of system.
These results suggest that the new design can make zinc batteries more practical for real-world applications, especially in grid-scale energy storage.
The implications are significant. Large-scale energy storage is essential for making renewable energy reliable and widely usable. By improving battery performance while keeping costs low, this research brings that goal closer.
Wang emphasized the broader impact of the work. “Our study offers a new perspective for electrolyte design,” he said. “It shows a pathway to maintain high conductivity, low cost, and stable performance at the same time.”
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The research also opens the door to further development. The same design principles can be applied to other types of batteries and energy storage systems. This can lead to a new generation of safer and more efficient technologies.
Looking ahead, the team plans to expand its work. They aim to test similar electrolyte designs in other systems and use advanced tools to better understand how these materials behave at the molecular level.
“In our next studies, we will explore other electrolyte systems and deepen our understanding of interfacial processes,” Wang said.
As the world moves toward cleaner energy, innovations like this will play a key role. By solving long-standing technical challenges, researchers are helping to make renewable energy more stable, affordable, and accessible for the future.
