Interfacial activation of anode in aluminum-air battery through incorporating 5-carboxyl benzotriazole@β-cyclodextrin assembly in synthetic seawater electrolyte

Neutral electrolyte, such as synthetic seawater (SW), is a promising candidate for aluminum-air (Al-air) battery due to the alleviated hydrogen evolution along with anode self-corrosion. However, aluminum surface passivation in SW poses a serious challenge for battery's power generation. Following molecular self-assembly theory, 5-carboxylate benzotriazole (CB) was incorporated into β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), which (CB@β-CD) was utilized as an interfacial activator for aluminum anode in SW. CB could be released from β-CD, and activated aluminum surface, facilitating anode discharge. The specific capacity and energy density of Al-air battery were achieved as 2607.4 mAh/g_Al and 2.37 kWh/kg_Al, respectively, at an optimal CB@β-CD concentration of 120 mg/L. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the overwhelming adsorption energy of guest molecule (CB) on Al (111) plane over its binding energy inside host (β-CD) accounted for the release of CB on anode surface, and the ensuing interfacial activation effect.