Toward the Rechargeable Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries with Improved Overall Performance: Electrolyte with Surface Adsorptive Additive

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) with slightly acidic electrolytes process advantages such as high safety, competitive cost, and satisfactory electrochemical performance. However, the failure behaviors of both electrodes, regarding zinc dendrite growth, interfacial parasitic reactions, and the collapse of cathode materials hinder the practical application of ZIBs. To alleviate the issues of both anode and cathode at the same time, D-xylose (DX) is introduced to the electrolyte as a multifunctional additive. As a result, the side reaction of the anode is suppressed and the metallic deposition behavior is regulated due to the hydrogen bonding network reconstruction and preferential surface adsorption of DX; for the MnO₂ cathode, the DX adsorption can help the interfacial charge transfer and increase the reactive sites. Benefiting from these merits, DX-optimized Zn//Zn battery displays reveal a prolonged lifespan of 6912 h and an ultra-high cumulative capacity of 17.28 Ah cm⁻² at 5 mA cm⁻². With the function of water reactivity suppression, the Coulombic efficiency reaches 99.91% at 2 mA cm⁻²; the Zn||MnO₂ full batteries exhibit excellent cyclability over 2000 cycles at 5C with an increased capacity of 118.9 mAh g⁻¹, indicating the dual functions to both of the electrodes for AZIBs.