A Generic “Engraving in Aprotic Medium” Strategy toward Stabilized Zn Anodes

Abstract

Zn foil pretreatment is a direct route to alleviating Zn anode instability and maintaining high energy performance in Zn metal batteries. Unfortunately, prevailing methods for achieving an ideal Zn surface texture do not enable durable operation under a large depth of discharge, thus impairing the Zn utilization ratio. Zn etching is a more feasible way to control the surface texture, but this approach remains relatively unexplored. In this study, a general strategy is reported for Zn foil engraving in aprotic media to realize efficient anode pretreatment in terms of stability. These tests are performed using high-valence metal ions (especially Mo 5+ ) in an aprotic environment as the key etchant to render a homogenously-distributed, 3D porous architecture on the Zn foil surface. Comprehensive experimental results and theoretical simulations revealed enhanced Zn nucleation and growth. This specially designed electrode exhibited a long lifespan with a large depth of discharge of 88% in symmetric cells. When assembled with a Zn x V 2 O 5 cathode, the constructed cell demonstrated nearly full capacity retention even under stringent conditions (e.g., an N/P capacity ratio of 5.5). This study demonstrates the potential of a Zn etching pretreatment to address the prototypical instability issues of Zn anodes.

Electrolyte Engineering via Competitive Solvation Structures for Developing Longevous Zinc Ion Batteries

“…The chronoamperometry (CA) analyses were further conducted to illustrate the Zn nucleation and growth behaviors (Figure 4b). [ 51 ] The current variation in the CA curves is closely related to the mode of Zn deposition and the change in surface morphology. For the HD‐OTf/Li electrolyte, the current density reaches an even state in a very short period of 25 s at an overpotential of −150 mV, indicating a stable 3D diffusion procedure on the surface, consequently inducing uniform Zn deposition.…”

Microfluidic‐Assisted 3D Printing Zinc Powder Anode with 2D Conductive MOF/MXene Heterostructures for High‐Stable Zinc−Organic Battery

“…The cyclic voltammetry (CV) curve (Figure S6, Supporting Information) showed that the onset potential for Zn plating on the M3DP-MXene/Cu- e) Comparison of the symmetric and asymmetric cell cycle life between the M3DP-MXene/Cu-THBQ/Zn-P and those in recent studies. [8,[12][13][14]16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] Exsitu SEM images of f-h) bare Zn-P anode and i-k) M3DP-MXene/Cu-THBQ/Zn-P anode. l) LCSM image of bare Zn-P anode and m) M3DP-MXene/Cu-THBQ/Zn-P anode.…”

“…Encouragingly, the long cycle life of the M3DP-MXene/Cu-THBQ/Zn-P anode exceeded that of most previous reports on the modification of Zn-P anodes (Figure 3e). [8,[12][13][14]16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] More intuitive evidence for the modulation of the Zn plating/stripping behaviour by MXene/Cu-THBQ was obtained using ex-situ SEM. For the bare Zn-P anode, numerous flake-like dendrites appeared on its surface after 100 h. As the cycle time increased to 220 h, a more ragged and thicker Zn dendrite layer was formed owing to the uneven Zn deposition and side reactions (Figure 3f,h).…”

Printable Energy Storage: Stay or Go?

“…In general, a standalone manufacturing technology is highly unlikely to address all the existing challenges faced by LIBs . The limitation of lithium resources has led to exploration of alternative devices such as sodium-ion and potassium-ion batteries, as well as sodium/potassium/zinc metal batteries, which utilize more abundant natural resources. − Furthermore, the safety of LIBs has always been an issue of concern. One approach to address this challenge is replacing the flammable organic electrolytes by aqueous electrolytes. , Solid-state electrolytes have also shown promise in enhancing battery safety.…”