Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Aug 15;644:368-377. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.096. Epub 2023 Apr 25.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs), featuring low cost and high safety, have become a research hotspot in recent years. However, the low Zn stripping/plating reversibility, caused by dendritic growth, harmful side reactions, and Zn metal corrosion, severely influences the applicability of AZIBs. Zincophilic materials have shown great potential to form protective layers at the surface of Zn metal electrodes, whereas those protective layers are usually thick, lack fixed crystalline orientation, and require binders. Herein, a facile, scalable, and cost-effective solution method is used to grow vertically aligned ZnO hexagonal columns with (002) top surface and low thickness of 1.3 µm onto Zn foil. Such oriented protective layer can promote homogenous and nearly horizontal Zn plating not only on the top but also at the side of ZnO columns due to the low lattice mismatch between Zn (002) and ZnO (002) facets and between Zn (110) and ZnO (110) facets. Accordingly, the modified Zn electrode exhibits dendrite-free behavior with considerably suppressed corrosion issue, inert byproduct growth, and hydrogen evolution. Thanks to that, the Zn stripping/plating reversibility is significantly improved in Zn//Zn cell, Zn//Ti cell, and Zn//MnO battery. This work provides a promising avenue for guiding metal plating process via oriented protective layer.
水系锌离子电池（AZIBs）具有成本低、安全性高的特点，近年来成为研究热点。然而，枝晶生长、有害副反应和锌金属腐蚀导致的 Zn 剥离/电镀可逆性差，严重影响了 AZIBs 的适用性。亲锌材料在 Zn 金属电极表面形成保护层显示出巨大的潜力，然而这些保护层通常较厚，缺乏固定的结晶取向，并且需要使用粘结剂。在此，采用简便、可扩展且具有成本效益的溶液法，在 Zn 箔上垂直生长具有（002）顶面和低厚度（1.3μm）的 ZnO 六方柱。由于 Zn（002）和 ZnO（002）晶面以及 Zn（110）和 ZnO（110）晶面之间的晶格失配较小，这种定向保护层不仅可以促进 Zn 在顶部，而且可以促进 Zn 在 ZnO 柱的侧面均匀且近乎水平的电镀。因此，改性 Zn 电极表现出无枝晶行为，大大抑制了腐蚀问题、惰性副产物生长和析氢。由于这个原因，Zn//Zn 电池、Zn//Ti 电池和 Zn//MnO 电池中的 Zn 剥离/电镀可逆性得到了显著提高。这项工作为通过定向保护层指导金属电镀过程提供了一个有前景的途径。
