Massively Reconstructing Hydrogen Bonding Network and Coordination Structure Enabled by a Natural Multifunctional Co‐Solvent for Practical Aqueous Zn‐Ion Batteries
Yuanze Yu, Qian Zhang, Pengfei Zhang, Jia Xu, Hongjiang Song, Shengkui Zhong, Jie Liu
Abstract
Abstract The practical application of aqueous Zn‐ion batteries (AZIBs) is hindered by the crazy Zn dendrites growth and the H 2 O‐induced side reactions, which rapidly consume the Zn anode and H 2 O molecules, especially under the lean electrolyte and Zn anode. Herein, a natural disaccharide, d ‐trehalose (DT), is exploited as a novel multifunctional co‐solvent to address the above issues. Molecular dynamics simulations and spectral characterizations demonstrate that DT with abundant polar −OH groups can form strong interactions with Zn 2+ ions and H 2 O molecules, and thus massively reconstruct the coordination structure of Zn 2+ ions and the hydrogen bonding network of the electrolyte. Especially, the strong H‐bonds between DT and H 2 O molecules can not only effectively suppress the H 2 O activity but also prevent the rearrangement of H 2 O molecules at low temperature. Consequently, the AZIBs using DT30 electrolyte can show high cycling stability even under lean electrolyte (E/C ratio = 2.95 µL mAh −1 ), low N/P ratio (3.4), and low temperature (−12 °C). As a proof‐of‐concept, a Zn||LiFePO 4 pack with LiFePO 4 loading as high as 506.49 mg can be achieved. Therefore, DT as an eco‐friendly multifunctional co‐solvent provides a sustainable and effective strategy for the practical application of AZIBs.