In-situ construction of multifunctional protection interface for ultra- stable zinc anodes

Rechargeable aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) have been regarded as an ideal device for the next -gen-eration energy storage system owing to their high theoretical capacity, proper redox potential in aqueous electrolyte, highly abundant, low cost, and high safety. However, growth of zinc dendrites and production of hydrogen gas seriously hinder the practical applications of AZIBs. Herein, a multifunctional protection in-terface is designed by an in-situ simple method. This interfacial layer is composed of zinc conductor ZnF2 and zincophilic In-O-F. This hybrid protective layer not only induces uniform zinc deposition and suppresses the hydrogen production, but also inhibits the formation of the by-products Zn4SO4(OH)6 center dot 5H2O and the vanadium dissolution. As a result of this synergy effect, the symmetric cell exhibits a long life for 3200 cycles at 20 mA cm-2, as well as a coulombic efficiency (CE) of Zn plating/stripping as high as 99.9 % after 2200 cycles at 2 mA cm-2. The full cells coupled with MnO2 and V2O3 cathodes also demonstrate excellent electrochemical performances. This work provides a simple and effective way to develop AZIBs. (c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.