Decoding MnO2 redox chemistry from mechanistic ambiguity to design principles for aqueous Zn-ion batteries
Yuan Shang, Sankhadip Saha, Haotian Wen, Qihui Zhang, Xinyuan Wu, Bram Hoex, Mingyue Wang, Nana Wang, Tongjun Luo, Sougat Purohit, Gopalakrishnan Sai Gautam, Wesley M. Dose, Lars Thomsen, Shery Chang, Priyank Kumar, Dipan Kundu · 2026
Read Decoding MnO2 redox chemistry from mechanistic ambiguity to design principles for aqueous Zn-ion batteries by Yuan Shang, Sankhadip Saha, Haotian Wen, Qihui Zhang, Xinyuan Wu, Bram Hoex, Mingyue Wang, Nana Wang, Tongjun Luo, Sougat Purohit, Gopalakrishnan Sai Gautam, Wesley M. Dose, Lars Thomsen, Shery Chang, Priyank Kumar, Dipan Kundu (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13408579.txt.
Description
Yuan Shang and co-authors settle a decade-old argument in 2026 about how manganese dioxide electrodes work in water-based zinc batteries. These batteries are cheap and safe candidates for grid storage. Yet the electrode fades fast, and rival camps blamed unlike mechanisms. Watching the electrode operate, rather than examining it afterwards, was the key move.
Live readings and spectroscopy showed two processes sharing the work. Protons first prime the oxide to dissolve. It then redeposits as disordered nanosheets. Protons also slip in and out of both the original and the redeposited material. A pH-driven insulating crust emerged as the main brake on deep discharge. Guided by that picture, surface activation and structural redesign improved capacity and stability in two cell formats. Battery designers gain concrete rules instead of competing stories.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Yuan Shang, Sankhadip Saha, Haotian Wen, Qihui Zhang, Xinyuan Wu, Bram Hoex, Mingyue Wang, Nana Wang, Tongjun Luo, Sougat Purohit, Gopalakrishnan Sai Gautam, Wesley M. Dose, Lars Thomsen, Shery Chang, Priyank Kumar, Dipan Kundu |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 67436 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |