In Situ Alloying Sites Anchored on an Amorphous Aluminum Nitride Matrix for Crystallographic Reorientation of Zinc Deposits

Abstract

Secondary aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are considered as one of the promising energy storage devices, but their widespread application is limited by the Zn dendrite issues. In this work, we propose a rational design of surface protective coatings to solve this problem. Specifically, a silver (Ag) nanoparticle embedded amorphous AlN matrix (AlN/Ag) protective layer is developed. The former would alloy in situ with Zn to form AgZn3 alloy sites, which subsequently induce the Zn deposition with preferred (002) facets. The latter can effectively alleviate the structural expansion during repeated Zn plating/stripping. Consequently, the delicately designed AlN/Ag@Zn anode delivers an enhanced stability with a long lifespan of more than 2600 h at 1 mA cm–2 and 1 mAh cm–2. Moreover, the AlN/Ag@Zn||Mn1.4V10O24·nH2O full batteries can be operated for over 8000 cycles under 5 A g–1. Our work not only suggests a promising Zn anode protective coating but also provides a general strategy for the rational design of surface protective layers for metal anodes.

Regulating zinc deposition behaviors by using a functional PANI modification layer on a separator for high performance aqueous zinc-ion batteries

“…Among various energy storage technologies, aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) as a promising alternative to Li-ion batteries have advanced rapidly due to their advantages of high safety, low cost, high anodic theoretical capacity (820 mA h g −1 ) and low anodic redox potential (−0.76 V versus the standard hydrogen electrode). [1][2][3][4] However, the practical application of AZIBs is limited by the following issues, i.e., the undesirable Coulombic efficiency (CE) and poor cycle life caused by the dendrite growth, and side reactions (hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and corrosion reaction) of a Zn metal anode. 5,6 In the aqueous electrolyte, the distribution of the electrical eld near the commercial Zn foil surface is uneven, which easily leads to the uncontrolled growth of Zn dendrites at protuberance sites because of the "tip effect" during the zinc deposition process.…”

High performance Zn anodes enabled by a multifunctional biopolymeric protective layer for a dendrite-free aqueous zinc-based battery

“…As an amorphous matrix has more randomly oriented bonds and a higher structural exibility, it is favoured for accommodating the deposition This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2023 of zinc ions. 48 The presence of crystalline Zn metal is further conrmed from the plated Zn on the modied Cu grid in Fig. 5j.…”

Orientational Electrodeposition of Highly (002)-Textured Zinc Metal Anodes Enabled by Iodide Ions for Stable Aqueous Zinc Batteries

“…Even at 20 mAh cm –2 at 1 mA cm –2 corresponding to ∼71.7% depth of discharge (DOD), this H-(002)-Zn can still stably cycle over 500 h with steady voltage curves (Figure f), significantly surpassing the (101)-Zn counterpart (Figure S27). Compared with the state-of-the-art Zn electrodes, ,,,,,,,,,,− the tailored H-(002)-Zn manifests superior performances in terms of DOD, cycling time, and areal capacity (Figure g and Table S2).…”