Site-Selective Adsorption on ZnF₂/Ag Coated Zn for Advanced Aqueous Zinc-Metal Batteries at Low Temperature

Metallic Zn as a promising anode material of aqueous batteries suffers from severe parasitic reactions and notorious dendrite growth. To address these issues, the desolvation and nucleation processes need to be carefully regulated. Herein, Zn foils coated by ZnF₂-Ag nanoparticles (ZnF₂-Ag@Zn) are used as a model to modulate the desolvation and nucleation processes by hybrid surfaces, where Ag has a strong affinity to Zn adatoms and ZnF₂ shows an intense adsorption to H₂O. This selective adsorption of different species on ZnF₂ and Ag reduces the mutual interference between two species. Therefore, ZnF₂-Ag@Zn exhibits the electrochemical performance much better than ZnF₂@Zn or Ag@Zn. Even at -40 °C, the full cells using ZnF₂-Ag@Zn demonstrate an ultralong lifespan of 5000 cycles with a capacity retention of almost 100%. This work provides new insights to improve the performance of Zn metal batteries, especially at low temperatures.