Recent progress of dendrite‐free stable zinc anodes for advanced zinc‐based rechargeable batteries: Fundamentals, challenges, and perspectives

Abstract

Zinc-based batteries are a very promising class of next-generation electrochemical energy storage systems, with high safety, eco-friendliness, abundant resources, and the absence of rigorous manufacturing conditions. However, practical applications of zinc-based rechargeable batteries are impeded by the low Coulombic efficiency, inferior cyclability, and poor rate capability, due to the instability of zinc anode. Herein, effective strategies for dendritefree zinc anode are symmetrically reviewed, especially highlighting specific mechanisms, delicate design of electrode and current collectors, controlled electrode|electrolyte interface, ameliorative electrolytes, and advanced separators design. First, the particular mechanisms of dendrites formation and the associated fundamentals of the stable Zn metal anodes are presented elaborately. Then, recent key strategies for dendrites prevention and hydrogen evolution reaction suppression are categorized, discussed, and analyzed in detail in view of the electrodes, electrolytes, and separators. Finally, the challenging perspectives and major directions of stable zinc anodes are briefly discussed for further industrialization and commercialization of zinc-based rechargeable batteries.

Thermally Healable Electrolyte‐Electrode Interface for Sustainable Quasi‐Solid Zinc‐ion Batteries

“…The cell with Ex‐GGE only runs 330 h with a quick overpotential increase during subsequent cycling due to the generation of interfacial gaps (Figure 5a). Upon introducing In‐GGE, the cell life is largely extended to 2080 h, which is far superior to the life of the one using a liquid electrolyte (121 h) [29] . At high charging capacities, the electrode‐electrolyte interfacial interspace is more severe after repeated cycling because of the volume effect of the zinc bulk.…”

Dendrite‐free Zn deposition initiated by nanoscale inorganic–organic coating‐modified 3D host for stable Zn‐ion battery

“…[5][6][7] In general, the formation of Zn dendrites is typically determined by the nucleation and growth processes. [8][9][10] At the initial nucleation stage, Zn tends to randomly nucleate on the Zn electrode surface stemming from higher nucleation barrier. 8,11 Whereafter, such inhomogeneous nucleation may induce the irregular electric field distribution, which produces a large amount of Zn dendrites and "dead" Zn.…”

A new method to determine composition of sphalerite without secondary pollution based on CIELAB color space

“…There has been an increasing amount of research for methods of mineral materials analysis in the last a few years 2,3 . However, most of them are accompanied by secondary pollution, which is detrimental to human health, and require high levels of expertise and technical skills from the testing personnel 4 . Due to the global Zn ore stone production approaching 600 million tons per year, secondary pollution and damage to human health resulted from sphalerite analysis cannot be ignored 5…”

“…2,3 However, most of them are accompanied by secondary pollution, which is detrimental to human health, and require high levels of expertise and technical skills from the testing personnel. 4 Due to the global Zn ore stone production approaching 600 million tons per year, secondary pollution and damage to human health resulted from sphalerite analysis cannot be ignored. 5 Presently, the composition of sphalerite can be determined using two series of methods.…”