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It remains challenging to achieve further breakthroughs in the development of durable bifunctional air cathode electrocatalysts for increasing the cycling life of rechargeable Zn‐air battery (RZAB). Herein, d‐band gap narrowing strategy is proposed to significantly boost the electrocatalytic activity and stability of spinel Co3O4 for both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. In situ Raman spectroscopy finds that the Ce atom substitution can significantly improve the durability and corrosion resistance of electrocatalysts in harsh alkaline electrolytes. Synchrotron X‐ray absorption fine structure reveals that the Co3+/Co2+ ratio of Co3O4 can be tuned with Ce introduction, which is beneficial to optimize the adsorption/desorption of the intermediates over Cooh3+ active sites. Density functional theory calculations further confirm the reduced gap between Co d‐band and O p‐band centers, increased electrical conductivity, together with the deepened valence band maximum of Co sites in Ce‐doped Co3O4. Thereby, the optimized RZAB with Ce‐Co3O4 delivers excellent long‐term durability (290 h) and large specific capacity (876.3 Wh kgZn−1$Wh\;kg_{Zn}^{{\bm{ - }}1}$), which possesses great prospects in all‐solid‐state flexible RZAB devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc‐based electrochemistry is attracting significant attention for practical energy storage owing to its uniqueness in terms of low cost and high safety. However, the grid‐scale application is plagued by limited output voltage and inadequate energy density when compared with more conventional Li‐ion batteries. Herein, we propose a latent high‐voltage MnO2 electrolysis process in a conventional Zn‐ion battery, and report a new electrolytic Zn–MnO2 system, via enabled proton and electron dynamics, that maximizes the electrolysis process. Compared with other Zn‐based electrochemical devices, this new electrolytic Zn–MnO2 battery has a record‐high output voltage of 1.95 V and an imposing gravimetric capacity of about 570 mAh g−1, together with a record energy density of approximately 409 Wh kg−1 when both anode and cathode active materials are taken into consideration. The cost was conservatively estimated at

Various properties of La 0.78 Ce 0.22 Ni 3.73 Co 0.30 Mn 0.30 Al 0.17 Fe 0.5−x Si x (x = 0, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1) hydrogen storage alloys at 20–80 °C have been investigated systematically. With the increase of Si content, the hydrogen storage capacity increases and the equilibrium pressure decreases, thus the improved thermodynamic stability of the metal hydrides makes the Si-containing alloys more suitable for working at higher temperatures. Appropriate addition of Si (x = 0–0.075) improves the anti-corrosion capability of the alloy, as a result, the temperature insensitivity, high-temperature dischargeability and high-temperature recoverability increase accordingly, particularly the cycling stability ( S 150 ) increases from 43.7% to 71.8%. In addition, the charge-transfer process is suppressed gradually by Si substituting (x = 0–0.075) at 20 °C, but gets promoted due to the improved surface catalytic ability when that at 60 °C, consequently the high-rate dischargeability and high-power delivery deteriorate at room temperature, but increase gradually at higher temperature. Therefore, an optimum alloy electrode is got when x = 0.075, the deterioration of x = 0.1 alloy on high-temperature performance is attributed to the appearance of the second A 2 B 7 phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfur‐based aqueous batteries (SABs) are regarded as promising candidates for safe, low‐cost, and high‐energy storage. However, the sluggish redox kinetics of polysulfides pose a significant challenge to the practical performance of SABs. Herein, we report a unique redox regulation strategy that leverages thiosulfate‐mediated ligand‐chain interaction to accelerate the polysulfide redox process (S0/S2−). The S2O32− species in the electrolyte can induce the rapid reduction of polysulfide through a spontaneous chemical reaction with sulfur species, while facilitating the reversible oxidation of short‐chain sulfides. Moreover, the thiosulfate redox pair (S2O32−/S4O62−) within the K2S2O3 electrolyte contributes additional capacity at higher potential (E0 >0 V vs SHE). Consequently, the elaborate SAB delivers an unprecedented K+ storage capacity of 2470 mAh gs−1, coupled with a long cycling life exceeding 1000 cycles. Remarkably, thiosulfate‐mediated SAB achieves an energy density of 616 Wh kgS+Zn−1, surpassing both organic K–S batteries and conventional aqueous battery systems. This work elucidates the mechanism underlying the thiosulfate‐mediated polysulfide redox process, thereby opening a pathway for the development of high‐energy aqueous batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite aqueous electrolyte endowing batteries with the merits of safe operation, low-cost fabrication, and high ionic conductivity, water-induced corrosion, including spontaneous chemical and electrochemical hydrogen evolution corrosion, adversely affects lifespan and rate capability. There is still a lack of selection criteria for benchmarking corrosion behavior qualitatively. Through theoretical simulation, an anionic polarity index (API) tactic is proposed to resist corrosion by manipulating interfacial and solvated water concomitantly, thus realizing stable and fast Zn aqueous batteries (ZABs). As proof of concept, a low-cost zinc salt of 0.5 m zinc bis(4-hydroxybenzenesulphonate) (Zn(HBS) 2 ) with low-API anion is prioritized. Combined in situ spectroscopic and electrochemical analyses reveal that, even in a low-concentration electrolyte, the low-API anion reduces interfacial water in the inner Helmholtz plane, shielding the chemical water dissociation. Meanwhile, their entering into the solvation sheath of Zn 2+ lowers the solvent-separated ion pair, suppressing the electrochemical corrosion. The elaborated API-screened zinc salt endows fast plating kinetics of 50 mA cm -2 (119.1 mV polarization), high coulombic efficiency of 99.8%, dendrite-free cycling over 1600 h, and prolonged lifespan over 5000 cycles for the Zn-V cell. The results provide new metrics that can benchmark the success of ZABs for large-scale energy storage., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Sulfur aqueous battery (SAB) is promising owing to its high theoretical capacity and cost competitiveness. Although decoupled electrolyte design has successfully endowed transition metal ion-SABs with customizability to achieve high energy density, its effectiveness in alkali ion-SABs remains problematic. Here, we identify for the first time an intractable phenomenon of alkali-ion-driven water migration between decoupled electrolytes through ex-situ NMR, which is recognized as the origin of the irreversible sulfur redox reactions. To address the challenge, we propose an alkali-ion-H2O-poor coordination strategy to effectively regulate water migration by incorporating low molecular polarity index (MPI) anions. In-situ Raman, synchrotron spectroscopy, and molecule dynamic simulations reveal that the repulsion of low MPI anions to water effectively disrupts the hydration patterns around the alkali cations, and thereby minimizes the concomitant water migration. The elaborated Na+-SAB achieved an ultrahigh capacity of 1634 mAh g-1 (97.7% sulfur utilization) and prolonged stability over 500 cycles. Furthermore, the versatility of alkali-ion-H2O-poor coordination strategy is further substantiated in Li+-SAB and K+-SAB batteries, boosting the scope of following SAB systems., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Tellurium (Te), with its rich valence states (-2 to +6), could endow aqueous batteries with potentially high specific capacity. However, achieving complete and stable hypervalent Te 0 /Te 4+ electrochemistry in an aqueous environment poses significant challenges, owing to the sluggish reduction kinetics, easy dissolution of Te 4+ species, and a controversial energy storage mechanism. Herein, we demonstrate a crystallographic regulation strategy for robust aqueous Te redox electrochemistry. With strong hydrogen bonding, NH 4 Ac confines free water, prompting the amorphization of TeO 2 (a-TeO 2 ). In situ synchrotron characterization, spectroscopy analysis, electrochemical evaluation, and theoretical calculations reveal a specific 4 e - solid-solid transition pathway (Te to a-TeO 2 ) with accelerated diffusion and charge transfer kinetics, attributed to a closer unoccupied electron orbital to the Fermi level and a reduced water desorption energy barrier in a-TeO 2 . Impressively, the a-TeO 2 /Te redox exhibits a high reversible capacity of 834 mAh g -1 (99% of Te redox utilization), superior rate performance (644 mAh g -1 at 10 A g -1 ), and an ultralong lifespan (over 3000 cycles). These findings prove a new tactic to advance aqueous Te redox electrochemistry toward high-energy aqueous batteries., (© 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)