Polyiodide Confinement by Starch Enables Shuttle‐Free Zn–Iodine Batteries

Abstract Aqueous Zn–iodine (Zn–I 2 ) batteries have been regarded as a promising energy‐storage system owing to their high energy/power density, safety, and cost‐effectiveness. However, the polyiodide shuttling results in serious active mass loss and Zn corrosion, which limits the cycling life of Zn–I 2 batteries. Inspired by the chromogenic reaction between starch and iodine, a structure confinement strategy is proposed to suppress polyiodide shuttling in Zn–I 2 batteries by hiring starch, due to its unique double‐helix structure. In situ Raman spectroscopy demonstrates an I 5 − ‐dominated I − /I 2 conversion mechanism when using starch. The I 5 − presents a much stronger bonding with starch than I 3 − ,…

• NC
  National Computational Infrastructure
• AG
  Australian Government
• UO
  University of Adelaide
• NC
  National Cancer Institute