Boosting Reversibility and Stability of Zn Anodes via Manipulation of Electrolyte Structure and Interface with Addition of Trace Organic Molecules
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(Published version)
Date
2022
Authors
Huang, H.
Xie, D.
Zhao, J.
Rao, P.
Choi, W.M.
Davey, K.
Mao, J.
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Journal article
Citation
Advanced Energy Materials, 2022; 12(38):2202419-1-2202419-9
Statement of Responsibility
Haiji Huang, Dongmei Xie, Jiachang Zhao, Pinhua Rao, Won Mook Choi, Kenneth Davey, and Jianfeng Mao
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Abstract
The practical application of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) is significantly limited by poor reversibility and stability of the Zn anode. Here, the first time addition of trace organic gamma butyrolactone (GBL) is reported to a typical ZnSO₄ electrolyte to controllably manipulate the electrolyte structure and interface. Judiciously combined experimental characterization and theoretical computation confirm that the GBL additive weakens the bonding strength between Zn²⁺ ion and solvated H₂O and rearranges the “Zn²⁺−H₂O−SO₄²– GBL” bonding network to reduce water activity and suppress corrosion and side products. The GBL molecules preferentially absorb on the surface of the Zn anode to give a uniform and compact Zn deposition. As a result, the Zn anode is boosted to run over 3105 cycles (6210 h) with average Coulombic efficiency of 99.93% under 1 mA cm−² and 1 mAh cm−², and exhibit stable cycling for 1170 h under harsh testing conditions of 10 mA cm−² and 10 mAh cm−². Additionally, the Zn–MnO₂ full cells using the ZnSO₄–GBL electrolyte exhibit a high capacity of 287 mAh g−¹ at 0.5 A g−¹ and good capacity retention of 87% following 400 cycles. These findings will be of immediate benefit to design low cost AZIBs for clean energy storage.
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Published online: August 17, 2022
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© 2022 The Authors. Advanced Energy Materials published by Wiley- VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.