Ding Yichun, Cai Pingwei, Wen Zhenhai
CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China.
Chem Soc Rev. 2021 Feb 15;50(3):1495-1511. doi: 10.1039/d0cs01239d.
Aqueous electrochemical devices such as batteries and electrolytic cells have emerged as promising energy storage and conversion systems owing to their environmental friendliness, low cost, and high safety characteristics. However, grand challenges are faced to address some critical issues, including how to enhance the potential window and energy density of electrochemical power devices (e.g. fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors), and how to minimize the energy consumption in electrolysis. The use of decoupled acid-base asymmetric electrolytes shows great potential in improving the performance of aqueous devices by electrochemically converting the conventional thermal energy of acid-base neutralization into electricity, i.e., electrochemical neutralization energy (ENE). This review aims to introduce the little-known concept of the ENE, including its development history, thermodynamic fundamentals, operating principles, device configurations, and applications. The recent progress made in ENE-assisted electrochemical energy devices emphasizing fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors, and electrolytic cells is summarized specifically. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives of ENE associated technology are discussed. It is believed that this tutorial review will give a better understanding of the mechanism and operating principles of the ENE to newcomers, which would shed light on the innovative design and fabrication of ENE-assisted devices and thus pave the way for the development of high-performance aqueous electrochemical energy devices.
诸如电池和电解池之类的水系电化学装置，因其环境友好、成本低和高安全特性，已成为很有前景的能量存储和转换系统。然而，要解决一些关键问题面临着巨大挑战，包括如何提高电化学动力装置（如燃料电池、电池和超级电容器）的电位窗口和能量密度，以及如何使电解中的能量消耗最小化。使用去耦酸碱不对称电解质通过将酸碱中和的传统热能电化学转化为电能，即电化学中和能（ENE），在提高水系装置性能方面显示出巨大潜力。本综述旨在介绍鲜为人知的ENE概念，包括其发展历史、热力学基础、工作原理、装置结构和应用。特别总结了在ENE辅助的电化学能量装置（重点是燃料电池、电池、超级电容器和电解池）方面取得的最新进展。最后，讨论了ENE相关技术的挑战和未来前景。相信本教程式综述将使新手更好地理解ENE的机理和工作原理，这将为ENE辅助装置的创新设计和制造提供启示，从而为高性能水系电化学能量装置的发展铺平道路。
