Establishing Thermal Infusion Method for Stable Zinc Metal Anodes in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Jiahui Zhou, Feng Wu, Yang Mei, Yutong Hao, Li Li, Man Xie*, Renjie Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

125 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Metallic zinc (Zn) having low cost, high capacity, environmentally friendly features is considered to be an attractive anode material for aqueous energy storage devices. However, dendritic growth and severe side reactions restrict the development of Zn-metal anodes. Numerous 3D hosts are extensively explored to settle these issues, whereas the accessible prestoring of Zn metal into structured electrodes is challenging. Here, a thermal infusion strategy is first reported to create a stable composite Zn-based anode. Upon this melting–wetting–cooling process, the metallic Zn is densely and firmly encapsulated in the 3D skeleton, efficiently inhibiting the dendritic growth. Meanwhile, through in/ex situ tests, the formation of ZnO layer on the metallic Zn surface inhibits the hydrogen evolution reactions (1.8 mmol h−1 cm−2) and passivation during cycling. Consequently, the electrode enables a long-cycling life of over 1000 cycles at 10 mA cm−2 in a symmetrical cell. The pouch cells pairing this novel anode and LiMn2O4 cathode maintain over 94 mAh g−1 capacity retention after 300 cycles. This research presents an innovative Zn anode structure and extendable prestoring metallic Zn method for aqueous Zn-ion batteries.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2200782
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume34
Issue number21
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 May 2022

Keywords

  • dendrites
  • hosts
  • side reactions
  • thermal infusion
  • zinc-metal anodes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Establishing Thermal Infusion Method for Stable Zinc Metal Anodes in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this