科学家发现可使电池寿命延长10倍的盐

Scientists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST; Saudi Arabia) have uncovered a critical molecular cause keeping aqueous rechargeable batteries from becoming a safer, economical option for sustainable energy storage. Their findings, published in Science Advances, reveal how water compromises battery life and performance and how the addition of affordable salts - such as zinc sulfate - mitigates this issue, even increasing the battery lifespan by more than ten times.
阿卜杜拉国王科技大学（KAUST；沙特阿拉伯）的科学家们发现了一个阻碍水系可充电电池成为更安全、经济可持续储能方案的关键分子成因。其研究成果发表于《Science Advances》，揭示了水如何损害电池寿命与性能，以及添加硫酸锌等低成本盐类如何缓解这一问题，甚至能将电池寿命延长十倍以上。

One of the key determinants to the lifespan of a battery - aqueous or otherwise - is the anode. Chemical reactions at the anode generate and store the battery's energy. However, parasitic chemical reactions degrade the anode, compromising the battery lifespan.
电池寿命的关键决定因素之一——无论是水系电池还是其他电池——在于阳极。阳极的化学反应产生并储存电池的能量。然而，寄生化学反应会降解阳极，从而损害电池寿命。

The new study shows how free water contributes to these parasitic reactions and how zinc sulfate reduces the amount of free water in the battery.
新研究表明游离水如何促成这些寄生反应，以及硫酸锌如何减少电池中的游离水量。

"Our findings highlight the importance of water structure in battery chemistry, a key parameter that has been previously overlooked," said KAUST Professor and Chair of the KAUST Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST) Husam Alshareef, the principal investigator leading the study.
“我们的研究结果突显了水结构在电池化学中的重要性，这是一个先前一直被忽视的关键参数，”主要研究者、KAUST教授兼KAUST可再生能源与存储技术卓越中心（CREST）主席Husam Alshareef表示。

Free water describes water molecules that are not strongly bonded with other molecules. This state allows free water to engage with more molecules than otherwise, triggering unwanted reactions that consume energy and compromise the anode.
自由水描述的是未与其他分子紧密结合的水分子。这种状态使得自由水能够与更多的分子接触，从而扳机不必要的反应，消耗能量并损害阳极。

Sulfate was found to stabilize the bonds of free water, acting as what the KAUST team describes as a "water glue," to change dynamics of the water molecules that reduces the number of parasitic reactions.
硫酸盐被发现能稳定自由水的化学键，其作用被KAUST团队描述为"水的胶水"，能够改变水分子的动力学，从而减少寄生反应的数量。

While the bulk of experiments by the KAUST researchers were done on batteries using zinc sulfate, early investigation has shown that sulfate has the same effect on other metal anodes, suggesting the inclusion of sulfate salts into the battery design could be a universal solution for lengthening the lifespan of all aqueous batteries.
尽管KAUST研究人员的大部分实验是在使用硫酸锌的电池上进行的，但早期研究表明硫酸对其他金属阳极也有同样的效果，这表明将硫酸盐纳入电池设计可能是延长所有水性电池寿命的通用解决方案。

"Sulfate salts are cheap, widely available and chemically stable, making our solution scientifically and economically viable," said KAUST Research Scientist Yunpei Zhu, who conducted the bulk of the experiments.
"硫酸盐价格低廉、来源广泛且化学性质稳定，这使得我们的解决方案在科学和经济层面都具备可行性，"负责主要实验的阿卜杜拉国王科技大学研究科学家Yunpei Zhu表示。

Aqueous batteries are gaining significant global attention as a sustainable solution for large-scale energy storage and are projected to exceed a market size of $10 billion by 2030. Unlike lithium batteries, which are often used in electric vehicles, aqueous batteries offer a safer and more sustainable option for integrating renewable energy sources like solar power into electrical grids.
水性电池作为大规模储能的可持续解决方案正受到全球广泛关注，预计到2030年市场规模将突破100亿美元。与常用于电动汽车的锂电池不同，水性电池为太阳能等可再生能源并入电网提供了更安全、更可持续的选择。

KAUST Professors Omar Mohammed, Omar Bakr, Xixiang Zhang, and Mani Sarathy also contributed to the study.
KAUST的Omar Mohammed、Omar Bakr、Xixiang Zhang和Mani Sarathy教授也为这项研究做出了贡献。