Electrolyte Additive for Interfacial Engineering of Lithium and Zinc Metal Anodes

Abstract

Electrolytes play a crucial role in facilitating the ionic movement between cathode and anode, which is essential for the flow of electric current during the charging and discharging process of the rechargeable batteries. In particular, electrolyte additives are considered as effective and economical approaches into the advancements of the battery technologies in both the conventional non‐aqueous and burgeoning aqueous electrolyte systems. Herein, a systematic and comprehensive review of the electrolyte additives is reported for the interfacial engineering of Li and Zn metal anodes in the non‐aqueous and aqueous electrolytes, respectively. The types of electrolyte additives and their corresponding functionalities for the protection of these two metal anodes are discussed along with the electrochemical features of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) derived from electrolyte additives. The recent progress on electrolyte additives for these two battery systems are also addressed from the perspectives of electrode, electrolyte, and the associated SEI. Finally, the outlook and perspective on the current issues and future directions in the field of electrolyte additive engineering are presented for next‐generation battery technologies beyond the conventional Li‐ion batteries.

Organic solid–electrolyte interface layers for Zn metal anodes

“…Over the years, numerous strategies have been proposed to address the challenges of Zn dendrites and side reactions, such as the HER and Zn corrosion in ZIBs. These include the introduction of new electrolytes, 44 Zn host architectures, 56 and the development of artificial SEI layers. 55 Modified Zn host architectures have been extensively investigated to mitigate Zn dendrites in ZIBs.…”

“…43 On the other hand, the redox potential of Zn/Zn 2+ (−0.76 V vs. SHE) is lower than that of the HER in slightly acidic electrolytes. 44 Although Zn has a high HER overpotential, as mentioned above, the HER remains a competitive reaction during the electroplating of Zn. 45,46 Previous studies have reported H 2 generation during cell rest and charging.…”