Role of the Fe-FeCl2 contact interface in promoting redox reversibility and electrochemical kinetics in Fe/FeCl2-graphite molten salt batteries
Abstract
The Fe/FeCl2-graphite battery is an intermediate-temperature molten salt electrochemical system. It employs the solid Fe/Fe2+ redox couple as the negative electrode and a graphite positive electrode based on the intercalation/de-intercalation of AlCl- 4, offering high safety, low material cost and a moderate operating temperature range of 110-150 °C. However, the poor electronic conductivity and high nucleation barrier of the FeCl2 material result in limited electrochemical reversibility and reaction kinetics. Here, we demonstrate that the Fe-FeCl2 contact interface effectively enhances the redox reversibility and electrode kinetics by providing favorable sites for Fe0 nucleation and improving electronic conductivity. The prepared Fe-FeCl2-CR electrode delivers a low voltage hysteresis of 0.09 V and exhibits excellent electrochemical reversibility in the Fe/FeCl2-graphite molten salt battery, achieving a specific capacity of 162.6 mAh g-1 at 3 mA cm-2 and retaining 93% of its capacity after 200 cycles. Compared with the pure FeCl2 electrode, the Fe-FeCl2-CR electrode shows lower direct-current pulse resistance and negligible nucleation overpotential, which are primarily attributed to the Fe-philic nucleation interface. This mechanism is further confirmed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, revealing that the (110) crystal plane of nano-Fe possesses the highest binding energy (-55.94 eV) during charging, thereby serving as the potential dominant interface for Fe0…
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