Abstract
Aqueous alkaline batteries see bright future in renewable energy storage and utilization, but their practical application is greatly challenged by the unsatisfactory performance of anode materials. Herein, we demonstrate a latent Sb stripping/plating chemistry by constructing an oxygen-rich interface on carbon substrate, thus providing a decent anode candidate. The functional interface effectively lowers the nucleation overpotential of Sb and strengthens the absorption capability of the charge carriers (SbO(2)(-) ions). These two advantageous properties inhibit the occurrence of side reactions and thus enable highly reversible Sb stripping/plating. Consequently, the Sb anode delivers theoretical-value-close specific capacity (627.1 mA h g(-1)), high depth of discharge (95.0%) and maintains 92.4% coulombic efficiency over 1000 cycles. A robust aqueous NiCo(2)O(4)//Sb device with high energy density and prominent durability is also demonstrated. This work provides a train of thoughts for the development of aqueous alkaline batteries based on Sb chemistry.