Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Zinc on Different Single Crystal Copper Substrates for High Performance Aqueous Batteries

Xin Xiao; Louisa C. Greenburg; Yuqi Li; Menghao Yang; Yan Kai Tzeng; Chenxi Sui; Yucan Peng; Yecun Wu; Zewen Zhang; Xin Gao; Rong Xu; Yusheng Ye; Pu Zhang; Yufei Yang; Arturas Vailionis; Po Chun Hsu; Jian Qin; Yi Cui

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535

Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Zinc on Different Single Crystal Copper Substrates for High Performance Aqueous Batteries

Xin Xiao, Louisa C. Greenburg, Yuqi Li, Menghao Yang, Yan Kai Tzeng, Chenxi Sui, Yucan Peng, Yecun Wu, Zewen Zhang, Xin Gao, Rong Xu, Yusheng Ye, Pu Zhang, Yufei Yang, Arturas Vailionis, Po Chun Hsu, Jian Qin, Yi Cui^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The aqueous zinc metal battery holds great potential for large-scale energy storage due to its safety, low cost, and high theoretical capacity. However, challenges such as corrosion and dendritic growth necessitate controlled zinc deposition. This study employs epitaxy to achieve large-area, dense, and ultraflat zinc plating on textured copper foil. High-quality copper foils with Cu(100), Cu(110), and Cu(111) facets were prepared and systematically compared. The results show that Cu(111) is the most favorable for zinc deposition, offering the lowest nucleation overpotential, diffusion energy, and interfacial energy with a Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.93%. The study sets a record for flat-zinc areal loading at 20 mAh/cm². These findings provide some clarity on the best-performing copper and zinc crystalline facets, with Cu(111)/Zn(0002) ranking the highest. Using a MnO₂-Zn full cell model, the research achieved an exceptional cycle life of over 800 cycles in a cathode-anode-free battery configuration.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1305-1313
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nano Letters
Volume	25
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535
Publication status	Published - 29 Jan 2025
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

cathode-anode-free aqueous battery
Copper single crystal
EBSD
Epitaxial growth
Pole figure
Zinc ion battery

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10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535

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Xiao, X., Greenburg, L. C., Li, Y., Yang, M., Tzeng, Y. K., Sui, C., Peng, Y., Wu, Y., Zhang, Z., Gao, X., Xu, R., Ye, Y., Zhang, P., Yang, Y., Vailionis, A., Hsu, P. C., Qin, J., & Cui, Y. (2025). Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Zinc on Different Single Crystal Copper Substrates for High Performance Aqueous Batteries. Nano Letters, 25(4), 1305-1313. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535

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title = "Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Zinc on Different Single Crystal Copper Substrates for High Performance Aqueous Batteries",

abstract = "The aqueous zinc metal battery holds great potential for large-scale energy storage due to its safety, low cost, and high theoretical capacity. However, challenges such as corrosion and dendritic growth necessitate controlled zinc deposition. This study employs epitaxy to achieve large-area, dense, and ultraflat zinc plating on textured copper foil. High-quality copper foils with Cu(100), Cu(110), and Cu(111) facets were prepared and systematically compared. The results show that Cu(111) is the most favorable for zinc deposition, offering the lowest nucleation overpotential, diffusion energy, and interfacial energy with a Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.93%. The study sets a record for flat-zinc areal loading at 20 mAh/cm2. These findings provide some clarity on the best-performing copper and zinc crystalline facets, with Cu(111)/Zn(0002) ranking the highest. Using a MnO2-Zn full cell model, the research achieved an exceptional cycle life of over 800 cycles in a cathode-anode-free battery configuration.",

keywords = "cathode-anode-free aqueous battery, Copper single crystal, EBSD, Epitaxial growth, Pole figure, Zinc ion battery",

author = "Xin Xiao and Greenburg, {Louisa C.} and Yuqi Li and Menghao Yang and Tzeng, {Yan Kai} and Chenxi Sui and Yucan Peng and Yecun Wu and Zewen Zhang and Xin Gao and Rong Xu and Yusheng Ye and Pu Zhang and Yufei Yang and Arturas Vailionis and Hsu, {Po Chun} and Jian Qin and Yi Cui",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 American Chemical Society.",

year = "2025",

month = jan,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535",

language = "English",

volume = "25",

pages = "1305--1313",

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Xiao, X, Greenburg, LC, Li, Y, Yang, M, Tzeng, YK, Sui, C, Peng, Y, Wu, Y, Zhang, Z, Gao, X, Xu, R, Ye, Y, Zhang, P, Yang, Y, Vailionis, A, Hsu, PC, Qin, J & Cui, Y 2025, 'Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Zinc on Different Single Crystal Copper Substrates for High Performance Aqueous Batteries', Nano Letters, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 1305-1313. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535

TY - JOUR

T1 - Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Zinc on Different Single Crystal Copper Substrates for High Performance Aqueous Batteries

AU - Xiao, Xin

AU - Greenburg, Louisa C.

AU - Li, Yuqi

AU - Yang, Menghao

AU - Tzeng, Yan Kai

AU - Sui, Chenxi

AU - Peng, Yucan

AU - Wu, Yecun

AU - Zhang, Zewen

AU - Gao, Xin

AU - Xu, Rong

AU - Ye, Yusheng

AU - Zhang, Pu

AU - Yang, Yufei

AU - Vailionis, Arturas

AU - Hsu, Po Chun

AU - Qin, Jian

AU - Cui, Yi

PY - 2025/1/29

Y1 - 2025/1/29

N2 - The aqueous zinc metal battery holds great potential for large-scale energy storage due to its safety, low cost, and high theoretical capacity. However, challenges such as corrosion and dendritic growth necessitate controlled zinc deposition. This study employs epitaxy to achieve large-area, dense, and ultraflat zinc plating on textured copper foil. High-quality copper foils with Cu(100), Cu(110), and Cu(111) facets were prepared and systematically compared. The results show that Cu(111) is the most favorable for zinc deposition, offering the lowest nucleation overpotential, diffusion energy, and interfacial energy with a Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.93%. The study sets a record for flat-zinc areal loading at 20 mAh/cm2. These findings provide some clarity on the best-performing copper and zinc crystalline facets, with Cu(111)/Zn(0002) ranking the highest. Using a MnO2-Zn full cell model, the research achieved an exceptional cycle life of over 800 cycles in a cathode-anode-free battery configuration.

AB - The aqueous zinc metal battery holds great potential for large-scale energy storage due to its safety, low cost, and high theoretical capacity. However, challenges such as corrosion and dendritic growth necessitate controlled zinc deposition. This study employs epitaxy to achieve large-area, dense, and ultraflat zinc plating on textured copper foil. High-quality copper foils with Cu(100), Cu(110), and Cu(111) facets were prepared and systematically compared. The results show that Cu(111) is the most favorable for zinc deposition, offering the lowest nucleation overpotential, diffusion energy, and interfacial energy with a Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.93%. The study sets a record for flat-zinc areal loading at 20 mAh/cm2. These findings provide some clarity on the best-performing copper and zinc crystalline facets, with Cu(111)/Zn(0002) ranking the highest. Using a MnO2-Zn full cell model, the research achieved an exceptional cycle life of over 800 cycles in a cathode-anode-free battery configuration.

KW - cathode-anode-free aqueous battery

KW - Copper single crystal

KW - EBSD

KW - Epitaxial growth

KW - Pole figure

KW - Zinc ion battery

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U2 - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535

DO - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04535

M3 - Article

C2 - 39835735

AN - SCOPUS:85215859756

SN - 1530-6984

VL - 25

SP - 1305

EP - 1313

JO - Nano Letters

JF - Nano Letters

IS - 4

ER -

Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Zinc on Different Single Crystal Copper Substrates for High Performance Aqueous Batteries

Abstract

Keywords

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