Symmetric Aqueous Batteries of Titanium Hexacyanoferrate in Na+, K+, and Mg2+ Media

Abstract

Symmetric batteries, in which the same active material is used for the positive and the negative electrode, simplifying the manufacture process and reducing the fabrication cost, have attracted extensive interest for large-scale stationary energy storage. In this paper, we propose a symmetric battery based on titanium hexacyanoferrate (TiHCF) with two well-separated redox peaks of Fe3+/Fe2+ and Ti4+/Ti3+ and tested it in aqueous Na-ion/ K-ion/Mg-ion electrolytes. The result shows that all the symmetric batteries exhibit a voltage plateau centered at around 0.6 V, with discharge capacity around 30 mAhg−1 at C/5. Compared to a Mg-ion electrolyte, the TiHCF symmetric batteries in Na-ion and K-ion electrolytes have better stability. The calculated diffusion coefficient of Na+, K+, and Mg2+ are in the same order of magnitude, which indicates that the three-dimensional ionic channels and interstices in the lattice of TiHCF are large enough for an efficient Na+, K+ and Mg2+ insertion and extraction.