Revealing the role of crystal orientation of protective layers for stable zinc anode

Abstract

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries are a promising candidate for next-generation energy storage devices. However, their practical application is limited by the severe safety issue caused by uncontrollable dendrite growth on zinc anodes. Here we develop faceted titanium dioxide with relatively low zinc affinity, which can restrict dendrite formation and homogenize zinc deposition when served as the protective layer on zinc anodes. The asprepared zinc anodes can be stripped and plated steadily for more than 460 h with low voltage hysteresis and flat voltage plateau in symmetric cells. This work reveals the key role of crystal orientation in zinc affinity and its internal mechanism is suitable for various crystal materials applied in the surface modification of other metal anodes such as lithium and sodium.

Coordinately unsaturated O2c–Ti5c–O2c sites promote the reactivity of Pt/TiO2 catalysts in the solvent-free oxidation of n-octanol

“…The orthogonal lattice fringes confirm that this image is representative of a 'top view' of the synthesized TiO2, whereby, the (001) facet is highly exposed on the top surface of the materials. [28][29][30] This aligns with the data retrieved from characterization of the TiO2 supports by Raman spectroscopy and XRD. Although the calcined catalysts, with different facets exposed, possess a similar size of supported nanoparticles (ca.…”

Heterometallic Seed‐Mediated Zinc Deposition on Inkjet Printed Silver Nanoparticles Toward Foldable and Heat‐Resistant Zinc Batteries

“…Impressively, such long cycle life is superior to those of many previously reported Zn anodes at the same current density (Figure 5e). [ 31,36,39,48–52 ]…”

“…Accordingly, several strategies have been devoted to suppressing dendrite growth and minimizing side reactions, including optimizing electrolyte composition, [ 12–24 ] adopting gel or solid electrolyte, [ 25–27 ] and coating multifunctional protective layers. [ 28–33 ] Metallic Zn anode is a hostless electrode that is dynamically deposited and stripped at the Zn‐electrolyte interfaces, eventually undergoing huge volume variation during repeated Zn deposition‐dissolution processes. [ 34 ] Compared with common planar configuration, constructing 3D conductive skeletons with large free space is a feasible approach to accommodate metallic Zn, which can reduce the local current density and minimize the volume variation of Zn deposits.…”

Boosting Zinc Electrode Reversibility in Aqueous Electrolytes by Using Low‐Cost Antisolvents

“…Zn deposition orientation was changed, as evidenced also in SEM images of Zn plating ( Figure S22). [35] To investigate further the efficacyo fa ntisolvent electrolytes,Zn/polyaniline (PANI) coin cells were assembled where the PA NI was synthesized on carbon-cloth through in situ polymerization. [36] SEM images showed that the PA NI, featuring astamen-like nanostructure,was uniformly distributed on the carbon-cloth ( Figure S23).…”