Zhongwei Chen

University of Waterloo | UWaterloo · Department of Chemical Engineering

A very practical, 3D air electrode architecture based on a bifunctional cobalt oxide nanowire array that is active towards both the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions is introduced. This advanced carbon- and binder-free electrode exhibits remarkable electrochemical durability, with 600 h of operation under ambient conditions in a recha...

Silicon has been considered as an ideal anode material for next generation of lithium ion batteries, due to its 10 times higher capacity than graphite. (3600 mA h g-1 for Li15Si4 vs. 372 mA h g-1 for LiC6). The poor electrode integrity, leading to the electrical isolation of Si particles, is a critical issue for applying Si as the anode in lithium...

With the approaching commercialization of PEMfuelcell technology, developing active, inexpensive non-precious metal ORR catalyst materials to replace currently used Pt-based catalysts is a necessary and essential requirement in order to reduce the overall system cost. This review paper highlights the progress made over the past 40 years with a deta...

One of the main challenges in the commercialization of low temperature fuel cells is the slow oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics and the high cost and scarcity of platinum (Pt)-based catalysts. As a result, alternative non-noble electrocatalysts to Pt materials for ORR is needed to realize the practical application of fuel cells. In this stud...

(Graph Presented) Staying power: A new class of cathode catalysts based on supportless Pt (see picture, left) and PtPd nanotubes (NTs) is introduced. These materials have remarkable durability (right; CV = cyclic voltammetry, ECSA = electrochemical surface area) and high catalytic activity. They have the potential to circumvent most of the degradat...

Lithium-ion batteries are a key technology for addressing energy shortages and environmental pollution. Assessing their health is crucial for extending battery life. When estimating health status, it is often necessary to select a representative characteristic quantity known as a health indicator. Most current research focuses on health indicators...

Electrochemical and thermodynamic instability of zinc metal represented by the corrosion reaction have hindered aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) further development. Herein, we introduced a high electron acceptor Lewis acid...

Customized architecture and chemistry play a pivotal role in conferring exceptional permeability and selectivity to polyamide (PA) membranes for desalination and ionic separation. Herein, a new interfacial polymerization (IP) template, the ultrathin graphene oxide nanoribbon (GONR) networks, is developed to meet the need for minimizing the funnel e...

The major aim of this article is to find the analytical solution of the physics-based model for lithium-ion batteries. Because the full-order pseudo two-dimensional model, comprised of a nonlinear algebraic-differential system, has a high computational cost, single particle model (SPM) is considered in this work to lessen the computational burden....

Recently, a paradigm shift toward the tremendous use of portable and mobile consumer products is observed and it consequently increases the battery demand. Currently, lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) are used in almost all kinds of devices, however, the increased usage of LIBs raises some safety concerns. For safe operation, it is necessary to investig...

The practicalization of a high energy density battery requires the electrode to achieve decent performance under ultra‐high active material loading. However, as the electrode thickness increases, there is a notable restriction in ionic transport in the electrodes, limiting the diffusion kinetics of Li⁺ and the utilization rate of active substances....

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are promising for high‐energy‐density solid‐state Li metal batteries due to their decent flexibility, safety, and interfacial stability. However, their development was seriously hindered by the interfacial instability and limited conductivity, leading to inferior electrochemical performance. Herein, we proposed to...

Advanced oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, integrating with well‐dispersed single atom (SA) and atomic cluster (AC) sites, showcase potential in bolstering catalytic activity. However, the precise structural modulation and in‐depth investigation of their catalytic mechanisms pose ongoing challenges. Herein, a proactive cluster lockdown str...

Advanced oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, integrating with well‐dispersed single atom (SA) and atomic cluster (AC) sites, showcase potential in bolstering catalytic activity. However, the precise structural modulation and in‐depth investigation of their catalytic mechanisms pose ongoing challenges. Herein, a proactive cluster lockdown str...

Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries represent a highly promising next‐generation electrochemical energy storage system because of their safety, environmental friendliness, resource abundance, and simple assembly conditions. However, the formation and growth of zinc dendrites on zinc anode seriously hinder the practical application of zinc‐ion batteries. Zin...

Zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) encounter interface issues stemming from the water‐rich electrical double layer (EDL) and unstable solid‐electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, we propose the dynamic EDL and self‐repairing hybrid SEI for practical ZIBs via incorporating the horizontally‐oriented dual‐site additive. The rearrangement of distribution and mol...

Zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) encounter interface issues stemming from the water‐rich electrical double layer (EDL) and unstable solid‐electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, we propose the dynamic EDL and self‐repairing hybrid SEI for practical ZIBs via incorporating the horizontally‐oriented dual‐site additive. The rearrangement of distribution and mol...

In situ construction of solid electrolyte interfaces (SEI) is an effective strategy to enhance the reversibility of zinc (Zn) anodes. However, in situ SEI to afford high reversibility under high current density conditions (≥20 mA cm⁻²) is highly desired yet extremely challenging. Herein, we propose a dual reaction strategy of spontaneous electrosta...

Lithium‐sulfur (Li‐S) battery are considered as the next generation energy storage system owing to their ultra‐high theoretical specific capacity and energy density. However, the commercialization of Li‐S battery is still hindered by the intrinsically low conductivity of sulfur, sluggish catalytic conversion and notorious shuttle effect of polysulf...

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are promising for high‐energy‐density solid‐state Li metal batteries due to their decent flexibility, safety, and interfacial stability. However, their development was seriously hindered by the interfacial instability and limited conductivity, leading to inferior electrochemical performance. Herein, we proposed to...

Upgrading excess CO2 toward the electrosynthesis of formic acid is of significant research and commercial interest. However, simultaneously achieving high selectivity and industrially relevant current densities of CO2‐to‐formate conversion remains a grand challenge for practical implementations. Here, an electrically conductive zeolite support is s...

Flexible zinc‐air batteries are leading power sources for next‐generation smart wearable electronics. However, flexible zinc‐air batteries suffer from the highly‐corrosive safety risk and limited lifespan due to the absence of reliable solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs). Herein, a single‐anion conductive SSE with high‐safety is constructed by incorpor...

Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (ECR) powered by renewable electricity is a promising technology to mitigate carbon emissions and lessen the dependence on fossil fuels toward a carbon‐neutral energy cycle. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives, due to their excellent intrinsic activity, have emerged as promising materials for the ECR...

Aqueous Zinc–Iodine (Zn–I2) batteries are promising candidates as energy storage system because of their high safety and low cost, but their application is hindered by the dendrite growth, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and corrosion, the shuttle and self‐discharge effect of I3⁻ at electrode/electrolyte interface. Inspired by self‐recognitio...

In‐situ construction of solid electrolyte interfaces (SEI) is an effective strategy to enhance the reversibility of zinc (Zn) anodes. However, in‐situ SEI to afford high reversibility under high current density conditions (≥ 20 mA cm−2) is highly desired yet extremely challenging. Herein, we propose a dual reaction strategy of spontaneous electrost...

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries promise high theoretical energy density and cost‐effectiveness but grapple with challenges like the polysulfide shuttle effect and sluggish kinetics. Metal–organic framework (MOF) catalysts emerge as a leading solution, despite limited conductivity and high steric hindrance. This study employs undercoordination chemi...

The doping strategy effectively enhances the capacity and cycling stability of cobalt‐free nickel‐rich cathodes. Understanding the intrinsic contributions of dopants is of great importance to optimize the performances of cathodes. This study investigates the correlation between the structure modification and their performances of Mo‐doped LiNi0.8Mn...

Flexible zinc‐air batteries are leading power sources for next‐generation smart wearable electronics. However, flexible zinc‐air batteries suffer from the highly‐corrosive safety risk and limited lifespan due to the absence of reliable solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs). Herein, a single‐anion conductive SSE with high‐safety is constructed by incorpor...

The electrosynthesis of multi‐carbon chemicals from excess carbon dioxide (CO2) is an area of great interest for research and commercial applications. However, improving both the yield of CO2‐to‐ethanol conversion and the stability of the catalyst at the same time is proving to be a challenging issue. Here it is proposed to stabilize active Cu(I) a...

Inorganic solid‐state electrolytes have attracted enormous attention due to their potential safety, increased energy density, and long cycle‐life benefits. However, their application in solid‐state batteries is limited by unstable electrode‐electrolyte interface, poor point‐to‐point physical contact, and low utilization of metallic anodes. Herein,...

Flexible zinc–air batteries are the leading candidates as the next‐generation power source for flexible/wearable electronics. However, constructing safe and high‐performance solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs) with intrinsic hydroxide ion (OH⁻) conduction remains a fundamental challenge. Herein, by adopting the natural and robust cellulose nanofibers (...

The accelerating adoption of electric vehicles supports the transition to a more sustainable transport sector. However, the retiring of many electric vehicles over the next decade poses a sustainability challenge, particularly due to the lack of recycling of end-of-life batteries. Here we show regeneration routes that could valorize spent cathodes...

Deep eutectic electrolytes offer opportunities for tailoring solvation structure and interface chemistry in advanced batteries, but developing deep eutectic electrolytes for high‐performance zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) remains a challenge. Herein, multifunctional dual‐metal‐salt derived ternary eutectic electrolytes (DMEEs) are designed via a support...

Despite many additives have been reported for aqueous zinc ion batteries, steric‐hindrance effect of additives and its correlation with Zn²⁺ solvation structure have been rarely reported. Herein, large‐sized sucrose biomolecule is selected as a paradigm additive, and steric‐hindrance electrolytes (STEs) are developed to investigate the steric‐hindr...

With the ever‐increasing demand for low‐cost energy storage systems, sodium‐ion (Na‐ion) batteries have received great attention. However, the large volume change, sluggish reaction kinetics, and unstable electrode/electrolyte interphase during cycling inevitably deteriorate the performance of Na‐ion batteries. Herein, a high‐voltage water‐soluble...

The severe Zn‐dendrite growth and insufficient carbon‐based cathode performance are two critical issues that hinder the practical applications of flexible Zn‐ion micro‐ssupercapacitors (FZCs). Herein, a self‐adaptive electrode design concept of the synchronous improvement on both the cathode and anode is proposed to enhance the overall performance...

Zinc–air batteries (ZABs) are promising energy storage systems because of high theoretical energy density, safety, low cost, and abundance of zinc. However, the slow multi-step reaction of oxygen and heavy reliance on noble-metal catalysts hinder the practical applications of ZABs. Therefore, feasible and advanced non-noble-metal electrocatalysts f...

Despite many additives have been reported for aqueous zinc ion batteries, steric‐ hindrance effect of additives and its correlation with Zn2+ solvation structure have been rarely reported. Herein, large‐sized sucrose biomolecule is selected as a paradigm additive, and steric‐hindrance electrolytes (STEs) are developed to investigate the steric‐hind...

Despite the low competitive cost and high theoretical capacity of lithium‐sulfur (Li‐S) batteries, their practical application is severely hindered by the lithium polysulfide (LiPS) shuttling and low conversion efficiency. Herein, the electronic structure of hollow Titanium dioxide nanospheres is tunned by single Iron atom dopants that can cooperat...

The commercialization of a polymer membrane H2–O2 fuel cell and its widespread use call for the development of cost‐effective oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) nonplatinum group metal (NPGM) catalysts. Nevertheless, to meet the requests for the real‐world fuel cell application and replacing platinum catalysts, it still needs to address some challenge...

A bicontinuous-phase electrolyte with a well-balanced solvation sheath is proposed, which delivers fast desolvation kinetics and generates a uniform in situ solid electrolyte interface, thus achieving a long-lasting Zn anode at low temperatures.

As battery technologies that can potentially increase the energy density and expand application scenarios of the lithium‐ion batteries, rechargeable metal‒air batteries have attracted extensive research interests. Among a variety types of metal anodes investigated, zinc (Zn)‒air and lithium (Li)‒air batteries hold best prospects for real‐world appl...

Developing commercially viable electrocatalyst lies at the research hotspot of rechargeable Zn‐air batteries, but it is still challenging to meet the requirements of energy efficiency and durability in realistic applications. Strategic material design is critical to addressing its drawbacks in terms of sluggish kinetics of oxygen reactions and limi...

Next‐generation batteries have long been considered a transition to more sustainable storage technologies. Among them, metal–air batteries (MABs) with low cost, high safety, and environmental friendliness have shown great potential for future large‐scale applications. Motivated by the desirable characteristics, significant progress is made in suppr...

As one of the promising sustainable energy storage systems, academic research on rechargeable Zn-air batteries has recently been rejuvenated following development of various 3d-metal electrocatalysts and identification of their dynamic reconstruction toward (oxy)hydroxide, but performance disparity among catalysts remains unexplained. Here, this un...

The development of electric vehicles is accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy, but the millions of end-of-life electric vehicles generated over the next decade pose serious waste management challenges, especially the recycling of spent batteries. Here we propose two cathode regeneration processes to enable scalable and affordabl...

The sluggish sulfur redox kinetics and shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) are recognized as the main obstacles to the practical applications of the lithium‐sulfur (Li−S) batteries. Accelerated conversion by catalysis can mitigate these issues, leading to enhanced Li−S performance. However, a catalyst with single active site cannot simul...

Electrochemical CO2 upgrade offers an artificial route for carbon recycling and neutralization, while its widespread implementation relies heavily on the simultaneous enhancement of mass transfer and reaction kinetics to achieve industrial conversion rates. Nevertheless, such a multiscale challenge calls for trans-scale electrode engineering. Herei...

As an attractive high‐energy‐density technology, the practical application of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries is severely limited by the notorious dissolution and shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPS), resulting in sluggish reaction kinetics and uncontrollable dendritic Li growth. Herein, a p‐n typed heterostructure consisting of n‐type MoS...