Stabilizing Zinc Anode through Ion Selection Sieving for Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries
Zhi Peng, Hui Yan, Qingqing Zhang, Shude Liu, Seong Chan Jun, S.K. Poznyak, Na Guo, Yuehua Li, Huajun Tian, Lei Dai, Ling Wang, Zhangxing He
Abstract
Uncontrollable dendrite growth and corrosion induced by reactive water molecules and sulfate ions (SO 4 2– ) seriously hindered the practical application of aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs). Here we construct artificial solid electrolyte interfaces (SEIs) realized by sodium and calcium bentonite with a layered structure anchored to anodes (NB@Zn and CB@Zn). This artificial SEI layer functioning as a protective coating to isolate activated water molecules, provides high-speed transport channels for Zn 2+, and serves as an ionic sieve to repel negatively charged anions while attracting positively charged cations. The theoretical results show that the bentonite electrodes exhibit a higher binding energy for Zn 2+ . This demonstrates that the bentonite protective layer enhances the Zn-ion deposition kinetics. Consequently, the NB@Zn//MnO 2 and CB@Zn//MnO 2 full-battery capacities are 96.7 and 70.4 mAh g –1 at 2.0 A g –1 after 1000 cycles, respectively. This study aims to stabilize Zn anodes and improve the electrochemical performance of AZIBs by ion-selection sieving.