Texture Control of Commercial Zn Foils Prolongs Their Reversibility as Aqueous Battery Anodes

Abstract

Crystallography modulation of aqueous zinc metal anodes can effectively inhibit their dendrite growth and unfavorable side reactions. However, the ability to directly endow the commercial Zn foils with specific texture is still lacking. In this study, a grain-size-assisted cold-rolling approach is developed to reshape and unify the commercial Zn foils into strong (002) textured Zn. It is revealed that the grain size strongly affects the (002) texture formation during the plastic deformation. By proper annealing treatment, the grain sizes of commercial Zn foils are controlled at ∼30 μm, which favors the formation of strong (002) texture during the following cold-rolling process. The resultant (002) textured Zn foils show better resistance to side reactions and dendrite growth when used as aqueous metal anodes. The strong (002) texture endows the Zn anode with long cycling stability in Zn//Zn symmetric batteries (2800 h at 0.1 mA cm–2, 100 h at 10 mA cm–2) and Zn//porous carbon capacitors (6000 cycles at 2 A g–1). The strategy demonstrated in this work unifies the different textures of commercial Zn foils into strong (002) texture and provides a scalable pathway toward highly reversible Zn anodes for aqueous zinc-ion energy storage devices.

Regulating Zinc Nucleation Sites and Electric Field Distribution to Achieve High‐Performance Zinc Metal Anode via Surface Texturing

“…This finding overturns some prevalent opinions, such as surface deficits on Zn anode is detrimental to their reversibility, and challenges the non‐directional polishing strategy for Zn surface engineering. Especially reading the latest article of Zn unidirectional calendaring has been proven to improve the (002) oriented Zn ratio on the surface, [ 33 ] the “panacea” of non‐directional polishing starts sounding arbitrary. Thus, this work advocates that unidirectional texturing is not just cheaper and more feasible, but scientifically more effective.…”

Porous Metal Current Collectors for Alkali Metal Batteries

“…Thus, it is essential to prepare PMCCs with double‐sided coating or perforated pore engineering and test their performances on a larger scale, e.g., using pouch cell and battery modules. 5)Next‐generation batteries such as aqueous‐metal (Zn, Mg, Ca, and Al)‐based batteries are promising energy‐storage systems for future smart grids. [ 121–124 ] The PMCCs in such systems might bring more opportunities, e.g., accommodating highly active materials loading, suppressing the metal dendrites growth, and improving electrochemical performance. However, taking the aqueous Zn metal battery as an example, Zn metal shows intrinsic thermodynamic instability in the aqueous system.…”

Metal Oxide Aerogels: A New Horizon for Stabilizing Anodes in Rechargeable Zinc Metal Batteries

“…Recently, different strategies have been developed to inhibit the growth of Zn dendrites, such as design of functional separators, [ 11–14 ] optimization of the electrolytes or additives, [ 15–17 ] construction of nanostructured Zn anodes, [ 18 ] and introduction of interface protective layers. [ 19,20 ] Among these strategies, interface layer engineering has been regarded as a straightforward and effective strategy for stabilizing Zn anodes.…”

“…[7] Ultimately, random occurrence of uneven zinc deposition causes rampant zinc dendrites, which results in irreversible capacity loss of the Zn anode and degraded battery lifespan, thus critically restricting the commercial application of Zn anode. [8][9][10] Recently, different strategies have been developed to inhibit the growth of Zn dendrites, such as design of functional separators, [11][12][13][14] optimization of the electrolytes or additives, [15][16][17] construction of nanostructured Zn anodes, [18] and introduction of interface protective layers. [19,20] Among these strategies, interface layer engineering has been regarded as a straightforward and effective strategy for stabilizing Zn anodes.…”