Single (002)-Textured Zinc Anode via Nonepitaxial Electrodeposition with <i>In Situ</i> Texture Maintenance for Stable Aqueous Zinc Batteries
Xiaotong Li, Wentao Yuan, Yue Wang, Xuewei Bao, Tongqiang Bi, Dingwen Cui, Zishuai Yang, Guoqiang Ma, Yuanyuan Wang, Zhaoxi Shen, Ning Zhang
Abstract
Crystallography regulation of a zinc (Zn) metal substrate to expose more (002) textures holds great promise for stabilizing Zn anodes. However, significant challenges remain in directly constructing a single (002)-plane-textured Zn metal anode (S-(002)-Zn) and realizing a sustainable (002)-texture exposure in working batteries. Herein, we report an anion and cation coregulated nonepitaxial electrodeposition to fabricate S-(002)-Zn by introducing 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide (EmimI) additives in low-cost ZnSO 4 aqueous electrolyte (ZS). Mechanistic studies reveal that the cooperation of Emim + and I – with oriented adsorption behaviors on Zn can synergistically boost the (100) plane growth, depress the (002) plane growth, and suppress H 2 evolution, thus enabling compact S-(002)-Zn electrodeposition. Moreover, other similar organic iodides (e.g., dimethyl-imidazolium iodide and 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide) are applicable to this scalable electrodeposition. On the other hand, the as-designed ZS-EmimI electrolyte can be directly applied in working Zn batteries, thus effectively sustaining the smooth (002) texture of S-(002)-Zn and inhibiting HER during cycling. Consequently, the combination of single-(002)-texture and ZS-EmimI electrolyte endows the S-(002)-Zn anode with an ultralong lifespan over 10,100 h (>14 months) at 1 mAh cm –2 and superior deep-cycling stability under 88.0% utilization (25 mAh cm –2 ) over 500 h and assures the stable operation of full Zn batteries.