Subnanocyclic Molecule of 15-Crown-5 Inhibiting Interfacial Water Decomposition and Stabilizing Zinc Anodes via Regulation of Zn<sup>2+</sup> Solvation Shell
Jiangbin Deng, Haoran Luo, Qianzhi Gou, Jiacheng Wang, Zhaoyu Chen, Nuo Xu, Zixun Liu, Yuting He, Ziga Luogu, Guangming Jiang, Kuan Sun, Yujie Zheng, Meng Li
Abstract
Aqueous zinc ion batteries exhibit a promising application prospect for next-generation energy storage devices. However, the decomposition of active H 2 O molecules on the Zn anode induces drastic dendrite formation, thereby impairing the performance for entire devices. To solve this challenge, we introduce subnanocyclic molecules of 15-Crown-5 as an additive into ZnSO 4 electrolyte to stabilize the Zn anode. Owing to the binding property of crown ethers with alkali metal ions and the size-fit rule, the 15-Crown-5 additives enable effective regulation of the solvation structure of hydrated Zn 2+ and reduce the efficient contact between Zn anode and active H 2 O, which are validated by the experimental analysis and theoretical calculations. Under the assistance of the 15-Crown-5 additive, the as-assembled Zn-based batteries deliver superior performance compared with ZnSO 4 and 18-Crown-6contaning ZnSO 4 electrolytes. This work shows a bright direction toward progress in aqueous batteries.