Decoupled tin-silver batteries with long cycle life and power output stability based on dendrite-free tin anode and halide insertion cathode chemistry

Conventional Ag-Zn batteries have historically faced the challenge of poor cycling stability, rooting in issues associated with Ag cathode dissolution and Zn anode dendrites. Herein, we present a pioneering decoupled Sn-Ag cell, which features two chambers separated by a cation-exchange membrane, containing a dendrite-free Sn metal anode immersed in an alkaline anolyte, and an Ag nanowires/carbon nanotube 3D thick-network cathode in a neutral catholyte. Benefiting from the achieved high electroplating/stripping stability of the metallic Sn anode in the alkaline electrolyte and the electrochemical reversibility of the Ag/AgCl cathode redox couple in the neutral electrolyte, the assembled decoupled Sn-Ag cell demonstrates superior cycling stability, retaining 82.4% of its initial capacity even after 4000 cycles (2 mA cm −2 ), significantly outperforming both the contrastive decoupled Ag-Zn cell (1500 cycles) and conventional alkaline Ag-Zn batteries (