Practical application of aqueous Zn‐ion batteries (AZIBs) is significantly limited by poor reversibility of the Zn anode. This is because of 1) dendrite growth, and 2) water‐induced parasitic reactions including hydrogen evolution, during cycling. Here for the first time an elegantly simple method is reported that introduces ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt (Na4EDTA) to a ZnSO4 electrolyte. This is shown to concomitantly suppress dendritic Zn deposition and H2 evolution. Findings confirm that EDTA anions are adsorbed on the Zn surface and dominate active sites for H2 generation and inhibit water electrolysis. Additionally, adsorbed EDTA promotes desolvation of Zn(H2O)62+ by removing H2O molecules from the solvation sheath of Zn2+. Side reactions and dendrite growth are therefore suppressed by using the additive. A high Zn reversibility with Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.5% and long lifespan of 2500 cycles at 5 mAh cm−2, 2 mAh cm−2 is demonstrated. Additionally, the highly reversible Zn electrode significantly boosts overall performance of VO2//Zn full‐cells. These findings are expected to be of immediate benefit to a range of researchers in using dual‐function additives to suppress Zn dendrite and parasitic reactions for electrochemistry and energy storage applications.
Field effect regulation of DNA nanoparticle translocation through a nanopore using a gate electrode is investigated using a continuum model, composed of the coupled Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations for the ionic mass transport and the Navier-Stokes equations for the hydrodynamic field. The field effect regulation of the DNA translocation relies on the induced electroosmotic flow (EOF) and the particle-nanopore electrostatic interaction. When the electrical double layers (EDLs) formed adjacent to the DNA nanoparticle and the nanopore wall are overlapped, the particle-nanopore electrostatic interaction could dominate over the EOF effect, which enables the DNA trapping inside the nanopore when the applied electric field is relatively low. However, the particle-nanopore electrostatic interaction becomes negligible if the EDLs are not overlapped. When the applied electric field is relatively high, a negative gate potential can slow down the DNA translocation by an order of magnitude, compared to a floating gate electrode. The field effect control offers a more flexible and electrically compatible approach to regulate the DNA translocation through a nanopore for DNA sequencing.
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