Citation: Geyang Zhang, Kuan Guo, Lin Zhou, Yating Wu, Zhengxun Ma, Yunzhen Chang, Yanping Li, Shujie Liu, Sheng Zhu, Gaoyi Han. Cationic polymer-engineered cathode for shuttle-free and ultra-long cyclic aqueous Zn–I₂ batteries[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(12): 111870. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111870 shu

Cationic polymer-engineered cathode for shuttle-free and ultra-long cyclic aqueous Zn–I₂ batteries

Geyang Zhang ^a ,
Kuan Guo ^b ,
Lin Zhou ^a ,
Yating Wu ^a ,
Zhengxun Ma ^a ,
Yunzhen Chang ^{a, *,} ,
Yanping Li ^a ,
Shujie Liu ^a ,
Sheng Zhu ^{a, c, *,} ,
Gaoyi Han ^{a, c, *,}

a.
The Institute of Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Energy Storage Materials Innovation and Integration of Shanxi Province, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Education Ministry, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
b.
The Testing and Metrology Research Institute of Zibo, Zibo 255000, China
c.
Institute for Carbon-Based Thin Film Electronics, Peking University-Shanxi (ICTFE-PKU), Taiyuan 030012, China

changyunzhen@sxu.edu.cn

shengzhu@sxu.edu.cn

han_gaoyis@sxu.edu.cn

Received Date: 30 June 2025
Revised Date: 11 September 2025
Accepted Date: 21 September 2025
Available Online: 22 September 2025

Figures(5)

Aqueous zinc-iodine batteries (AZIBs) are promising and sustainable batteries due to their safety, low cost, and high storage. However, their application has been severely hindered by the notorious shuttle effect of polyiodide species during repeated charge/discharge cycles. Here, we report a novel cathode material by reacting poly(diallyl dimethylammonium) with iodine solution (containing triiodide ions) to form PDDA/I₃ hybrid. Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal that the cationic polymer skeleton exhibits strong interaction with iodine species to suppress the shuttle effect of polyiodide ions. Therefore, the assembled PDDA/I₃-based AZIBs deliver a large specific capacity of 271.2 mAh/g and high Coulombic efficiency exceeding 98.5% at current density of 0.1 A/g. Furthermore, the optimized AZIBs cell shows an outstanding cycling stability (91.0% capacity retention after 46,000 cycles at current density of 3.0 A/g). This study offers a new strategy for designing high-performance, long-cycling-life AZIBs through effective mitigation of the iodine shuttle behavior, opening an avenue for their practical application in large-scale energy storage systems.
- Zn-I₂ battery,
- Shuttle effect,
- Polyquaternium,
- Cathode material,
- Energy storage
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沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142

Cationic polymer-engineered cathode for shuttle-free and ultra-long cyclic aqueous Zn–I2 batteries

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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

Cationic polymer-engineered cathode for shuttle-free and ultra-long cyclic aqueous Zn–I₂ batteries