(Press-News.org) Peking University, July 07, 2025: A research team led by Prof. Pan Feng from the School of Advanced Materials, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School has uncovered key mechanisms that govern how protons are stored and transported in aqueous batteries. The study provides critical insights that could lead to safer, faster-charging, and higher-capacity alternatives to today’s lithium-ion batteries. Published in Matter, a Cell Press journal, the study titled “Proton storage and transfer in aqueous batteries” reveals how hydrogen-bond network engineering enables efficient proton storage and transport.
Background
Aqueous batteries, which use water-based electrolytes, are inherently safer than lithium-ion systems but have traditionally suffered from lower energy density. Protons, due to their low mass and high mobility, hold great promise, but their complex chemistry has limited real-world application.
Pan’s team demonstrates that protons move through a Grotthuss-type mechanism, hopping between hydrogen bonds rather than diffusing like metal ions. This allows for ultra-fast, “diffusion-free” transport and positions protons as ideal charge carriers for high-performance aqueous batteries.
Why it matters
This research addresses a longstanding challenge in energy storage: achieving both safety and high performance. By revealing how hydrogen-bond networks facilitate proton storage and transport, the study lays a solid theoretical foundation for a new generation of energy systems that could match or exceed lithium-ion technology. Unlike lithium (Li⁺) and sodium (Na⁺), which form stable ionic bonds with oxygen in rigid crystal frameworks, protons (H⁺) form more covalent, saturable H–O bonds and do not integrate into lattices in the same way.
Key Findings
A significant contribution of the study is the proposal of three core strategies to optimize aqueous battery performance using hydrogen-bond network engineering.
First, in electrode design, the researchers suggest embedding water-containing or anhydrous hydrogen-bond networks within solid-state materials to create well-defined pathways for proton transport. Second, through electrolyte tuning, they demonstrate that adjusting the concentration of acids and the type of anions present in the electrolyte can stabilize and enhance proton conductivity. Third, in terms of interface engineering, the team shows that modifying the electrode surface, such as by introducing hydroxyl (–OH) and carboxyl (–COOH) groups using oxygen plasma treatment, can create proton-bridging channels that significantly lower interfacial charge-transfer resistance and improve reaction kinetics.
Together, these strategies form a unified framework that clarifies proton behavior in aqueous systems and paves the way for safer, faster, and more efficient energy storage.
Future Implications
This study paves the way for next-generation proton-based aqueous batteries that combine safety with high performance. By engineering hydrogen-bond networks, future devices could achieve higher energy density, faster charging, and longer lifespan, advancing applications from grid storage to portable electronics and electric vehicles.
*This article is featured in PKU News "Why It Matters" series. More from this series.
: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102165
Written by: Akaash Babar
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
END
From hydrogen bonds to high performance: The future of aqueous batteries
2025-07-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Ancient brachiopods used tiny bristles to maintain “social distancing,” study reveals
2025-07-22
Understanding how ancient species arranged themselves in space is a key puzzle in paleoecology, but direct evidence of how prehistoric organisms used their body structures to regulate spacing has long eluded scientists. Now, researchers in China have uncovered the first direct evidence: Approximately 436-million-year-old brachiopods from the early Silurian period used tiny, bristle-like structures called setae to maintain orderly, "checkerboard" spacing—ensuring they had enough room to thrive on the ancient seafloor.
The findings, published in Proceedings ...
320 million trees are killed by lightning each year — Considerable biomass loss
2025-07-22
Considerable biomass loss
320 million trees are killed by lightning each year
Lightning has a greater impact on forests than previously thought. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed new model calculations that, for the first time, estimate the global influence of lightning on forest ecosystems. According to their findings, an estimated 320 million trees die each year due to lightning strikes. Tree losses caused by direct lightning-ignited wildfires are not included ...
Research alert: Gene signature an early warning system for aggressive pancreatic cancer, study finds
2025-07-22
Precancerous cells must adapt to and overcome cellular stress and inflammation in order to progress and form malignant tumors. Now, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified a link between stress and inflammation and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the most aggressive and lethal types of cancer. The findings could serve as an early warning system for the disease, leading to the detection of PDAC before it becomes life-threatening.
Previous studies have shown ...
The Covid-19 pandemic may have aged our brains, according to a new study
2025-07-22
A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has found that the Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated people’s brain health, even if they were never infected with the virus.
What does it mean to grow older, not just in years, but in terms of brain health? Can stress, isolation, and global disruption leave their mark on people’s minds?
The findings of this new study, which are published in Nature Communications, showed that people who lived through the Covid-19 pandemic showed signs of faster brain ageing over time than ...
Pitt study uncovers how the immune system fends off gut parasites
2025-07-22
New research from the University of Pittsburgh reveals how the immune system defends against intestinal parasitic worms, or helminths, one of the most common infections worldwide in communities with limited access to clean water and sanitation.
The findings, published today in the journal Immunity, suggest that currently available non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), similar to ibuprofen, could act on the newly discovered pathway to boost immunity to parasitic infections.
“While parasitic worms are less of an issue in most of the U.S. and other wealthy nations, these infections affect almost a quarter ...
Tiny fossil suggests spiders and their relatives originated in the sea
2025-07-22
A new analysis of an exquisitely preserved fossil that lived half a billion years ago suggests that arachnids – spiders and their close kin – evolved in the ocean, challenging the widely held belief that their diversification happened only after their common ancestor had conquered the land.
Spiders and scorpions have existed for some 400 million years, with little change. Along with closely related arthropods grouped together as arachnids, they have dominated the Earth as the most successful ...
Psychological and physical health of a preterm birth cohort at age 35
2025-07-22
About The Study: In this cohort study, preterm individuals had higher early life medical risk and faced increased mental health disorders, cardiometabolic issues, and body composition differences compared with full-term peers at age 35. Despite strong evidence linking preterm birth to long-term health consequences, many primary care clinicians in the U.S. remain unaware of these risks, often due to infrequent birth history inquiries in adult health care settings.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Amy L. D’Agata, PhD, RN, email amydagata@uri.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.22599)
Editor’s ...
Leading the way comes at a cost for feathered friends
2025-07-22
Like humans, animals can become stressed when trying to lead a group of peers in a particular direction, a new study from The Australian National University (ANU) has shown.
According to study co-author Associate Professor Damien Farine, many animal groups make decisions in a very democratic way, taking a “majority rules” approach.
While effective, it can also take a toll.
“We already have evidence of how this decision-making can work – it’s like a voting process. So, individuals might start to move away from the group in the direction they want to go to find food and if they get enough ...
Psychedelics and cannabis offer treatment hope for people with eating disorders
2025-07-22
A pioneering international survey of people living with eating disorders has found that cannabis and psychedelics, such as ‘magic mushrooms’ or LSD, were best rated as alleviating symptoms by respondents who self-medicated with the non-prescribed drugs.
The worst-rated drugs were alcohol, tobacco, nicotine and cocaine.
Prescribed drugs, such as antidepressants, were generally not well rated for treating eating-disorder symptoms but were positively rated for effects on general mental health.
The research, led by PhD student Sarah-Catherine ...
Answer ALS launches AI drug development collaboration with GATC Health, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and Tulane to advance ALS treatment discovery
2025-07-22
NEW ORLEANS, July 22, 2025 — Answer ALS is proud to announce the launch of a groundbreaking collaborative initiative aimed at accelerating AI-powered drug discovery for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. This effort, known as the Louisiana AI Drug Development Infrastructure for ALS (LADDIA), brings together leading institutions and innovators, including GATC Health, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and Tulane University — a tech-bio innovator using validated AI models to accelerate drug discovery from large-scale multiomics data — to harness the power of artificial ...