Al-Organic Complex Integrated Organo-Hydrogel Hybrid Electrolyte for Halide-Ion Batteries with Improved Cycle Life

Chloride-ion battery (CIB) technology, for its practical application, is mainly focused on overcoming cathode dissolution in a liquid electrolyte and the employment of a sustainable metal anode. This work focuses on addressing the aforementioned concerns of CIBs by exploiting the advantages of Al-based materials to create sustainable solutions; Al-organic complex integration with a polymer matrix is explored as a chloride-conducting gel electrolyte. The molecular-level interaction of an Al-organic complex with a polymer through an intervening molecule is studied and validated through DFT studies. Organic solvent crystallization of the organo-hydrogel impacting electrochemical performance is addressed and optimized. The as-prepared gel electrolyte exhibits an anodic voltage limit of 2.9 V vs Al³⁺/Al, an ionic conductivity of 0.58 mS cm^-1 and demonstrates durable cycling performance with 83% capacity retention over 200 cycles. The CIB system exhibits an energy density of 63 Wh/kg and a power density of 108.6