Hu Xueqing, Narayan Bastola, Naresh Nibagani, Pinnock Iman, Zhu Yijia, Liu Xiaopeng, Wang Tianlei, Li Bing, Parkin Ivan P, Boruah Buddha Deka
Institute for Materials Discovery (IMD), University College London (UCL), London, WC1E 7JE, UK.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK.
Small. 2024 Dec;20(49):e2403555. doi: 10.1002/smll.202403555. Epub 2024 Sep 15.
Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are increasingly recognized as promising energy storage systems for mini-grid and mini-off-grid applications due to their advantageous characteristics such as high safety, affordability, and considerable theoretical capacity. However, the long-term cycling performance of ZIBs is hampered by challenges including the uncontrolled dendrite formation, the passivation, and the occurrence of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the Zn anode. In this study, enhancing ZIB performance by implementing oxide material coatings on Zn metal, serving as a physical barrier at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces to mitigate dendrite growth and suppress the HER is concentrated. Specifically, the mechanisms through which the n-type semiconductor TiO coated Zn anode establishes ohmic contact with Zn, and the high-dielectric BaTiO (BTO) coated Zn anode fosters Maxwell-Wagner polarization with ferroelectric properties, significantly inhibiting dendrite growth and side reactions, thereby resulting in a highly stable Zn anode for efficient aqueous ZIBs is explored. This advanced BTO/Zn electrode demonstrates an extended lifespan of over 700 h compared to bare Zn and TiO/Zn anodes. Additionally, full-cell aqueous ZIBs incorporating BTO/Zn//VO (B) batteries exhibit superior rate capabilities, high capacity, and sustained cycle life.
水系可充电锌离子电池（ZIBs）因其高安全性、经济性和可观的理论容量等优势特性，日益被认为是适用于微电网和小型离网应用的有前景的储能系统。然而，ZIBs的长期循环性能受到诸多挑战的阻碍，包括锌阳极上不受控制的枝晶形成、钝化以及析氢反应（HER）的发生。在本研究中，重点关注通过在锌金属上实施氧化物材料涂层来提高ZIBs性能，该涂层在电极 - 电解质界面处作为物理屏障，以减轻枝晶生长并抑制HER。具体而言，探索了n型半导体TiO涂层的锌阳极与锌建立欧姆接触的机制，以及高介电常数的BaTiO（BTO）涂层的锌阳极通过铁电特性促进麦克斯韦 - 瓦格纳极化，显著抑制枝晶生长和副反应，从而为高效水系ZIBs产生高度稳定的锌阳极的机制。与裸锌和TiO/Zn阳极相比，这种先进的BTO/Zn电极展示了超过700小时的延长寿命。此外，包含BTO/Zn//VO（B）电池的全电池水系ZIBs表现出优异的倍率性能、高容量和持续的循环寿命。
