Department of Energy Engineering (Battery Science and Technology)The continuous throng in demand for high energy density rechargeable batteries innovatively drives technological development in cell design as well as electrochemically active materials. In that perspective metal-free batteries consisting of a flowing seawater as a cathode active material were introduced. However, the electrochemical performance of the seawater battery was restrained by NASICON (Na3Zr2Si2PO12) ceramic solid electrolyte. Here, we demonstrate a new class of fibrous nanomat hard-carbon (FNHC) anode/1D (one-dimensional) bucky paper (1DBP) cathode hybrid electrode architecture in seawater battery based on 1D building block-interweaved hetero-nanomat frameworks. Differently from conventional slurry-cast electrodes, exquisitely designed hybrid hetero-nanomat electrodes are fabricated through concurrent dual electrospraying and electrospinning for the anode, vacuum-assisted infiltration for the cathode. HC nanoparticles are closely embedded in the spatially reinforced polymeric nanofiber/CNT hetero-nanomat skeletons that play a crucial role in constructing 3D-bicontinuous ion/electron transport pathways and allow to eliminate heavy metallic aluminum foil current collectors. Eventually the FNHC/1DBP seawater full cell, driven by aforementioned physicochemical uniqueness, shows exceptional improvement in electrochemical performance (Energy density = 693 Wh kg-1), (Power density = 3341 W kg-1) removing strong stereotype of ceramic solid electrolyte, which beyond those achievable with innovative next generation battery technologies.ope
