Tuning Zn2+ coordination tunnel by hierarchical gel electrolyte for dendrite-free zinc anode

Bingyao Zhang; Liping Qin; Yun Fang; Yizhao Chai; Xuesong Xie; Bingan Lu; Shuquan Liang; Jiang Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2022.01.027

Tuning Zn²⁺ coordination tunnel by hierarchical gel electrolyte for dendrite-free zinc anode

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2022 May 15;67(9):955-962. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2022.01.027. Epub 2022 Feb 1.

Authors

Bingyao Zhang¹, Liping Qin², Yun Fang¹, Yizhao Chai¹, Xuesong Xie³, Bingan Lu⁴, Shuquan Liang¹, Jiang Zhou⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Electronic Packaging and Advanced Functional Materials of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.
² College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou 545006, China.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Electronic Packaging and Advanced Functional Materials of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. Electronic address: cedarstudy@csu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha 410083, China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Electronic Packaging and Advanced Functional Materials of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. Electronic address: zhou_jiang@csu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36546030
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2022.01.027

Abstract

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are perceived as one of the most upcoming grid-scale storage systems. However, the issues of electrode dissolution, dendrite formation, and corrosion in traditional liquid electrolytes have plagued its progress. In this work, Zn dendrite growth and side reactions are effectively suppressed by a highly-confined tannic acid (TA) modified sodium alginate (SA) composite gel electrolyte (TA-SA). The ion-confinement effect is enhanced by divalent zinc ions coordinated with carboxyl groups and chelated with phenolic hydroxyl groups, thus guiding and regulating Zn deposition to achieve steady zinc plating/stripping behavior. As a consequence, the Zn/TA-SA/NH₄V₄O₁₀ full cells deliver a high specific capacity of 238.6 mAh g^-1 and maintain 94.51% over 900 cycles at 2 A g^-1. Notably, after resting over 5 d, the capacity can be stabilized with a capacity retention of 97.25% after 200 cycles at 2 A g^-1. This highly-confined and hydrogen bond-strengthened gel electrolyte may provide an effective strategy for the future development of quasi-solid-state metal batteries.

Keywords: Aqueous zinc-ion batteries; Cycling stability; Hydrogel electrolytes; Natural polymers; Self-discharge.