Layered double hydroxide membrane with high hydroxide conductivity and ion selectivity for energy storage device

Membranes with fast and selective ions transport are highly demanded for energy storage devices. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs), bearing uniform interlayer galleries and abundant hydroxyl groups covalently bonded within two-dimensional (2D) host layers, make them superb candidates for high-performance membranes. However, related research on LDHs for ions separation is quite rare, especially the deep-going study on ions transport behavior in LDHs. Here, we report a LDHs-based composite membrane with fast and selective ions transport for flow battery application. The hydroxide ions transport through LDHs via vehicular (standard diffusion) & Grotthuss (proton hopping) mechanisms is uncovered. The LDHs-based membrane enables an alkaline zinc-based flow battery to operate at 200 mA cm−2, along with an energy efficiency of 82.36% for 400 cycles. This study offers an in-depth understanding of ions transport in LDHs and further inspires their applications in other energy-related devices. Membranes with fast and selective ion transport are highly relevant for energy storage devices. Here, the authors report a layered double hydroxide membrane with high ionic selectivity and hydroxide ion conductivity for flow battery applications, and reveal the ions transport mechanism of the membrane.