Aqueous zinc‐ion battery is regarded as one of the promising devices for large‐scale energy storage systems owing to its high safety, cost‐effectiveness, and competitive electrochemical properties. However, the dendrite growth on zinc metal anodes dramatically hinders its further practical applications, and the internal mechanism of dendrite evolution is still unclear. The introduction of a protective layer on the anode interface is an effective method to avoid zinc dendrite growth. Herein, a two‐dimensional (2D) atomic surface diffusion mechanism is proposed to reveal the evolution of zinc deposition from tiny protrusion to dendrite under uneven electric and ionic fields. Further, the conductive copper nitride (CN) protective layer is constructed on the zinc metal anode by a facile and scalable magnetron sputtering approach. Their protective layer possesses a high zinc affinity and high diffusion barrier for zinc atom migration, leading to spacious nucleation, and uniform zinc deposition, thus significantly boosting the electrochemical stability. For the first time, the role of the restricted 2D atomic surface diffusion mechanism in inhibiting the formation of zinc tiny protrusion that induces uneven electric and ionic fields is revealed. This work can provide a novel insight for future research on dendrite‐free zinc metal anodes by interfacial modification.
Molybdenum disulfide, a typically layered transition metal chalcogenide, is considered one of the promising electrode candidates for next-generation high energy density batteries owing to its tunable physical and chemical properties,...
As a promising energy storage technology, aluminum-air batteries possess the advantages of high energy density, safe and low-cost. However, the severe self-corrosion of aluminum anode greatly limits their practical applications....
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