On-site building of a Zn²⁺-conductive interfacial layer via short-circuit energization for stable Zn anode

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) show great potential in large-scale energy storage systems for their advantages of high safety, low cost, high capacity, and environmental friendliness. However, the poor performance of Zn metal anode seriously hinders the application of ZIBs. Herein, we use the zinc-ion intercalatable V₂O₅·nH₂O (VO) as the interface modification material, for the first time, to on-site build a Zn²⁺-conductive Zn_xV₂O₅·nH₂O (ZnVO) interfacial layer via the spontaneous short-circuit reaction between the pre-fabricated VO film and Zn metal foil. Compared with the bare Zn, the ZnVO-coated Zn anode exhibits better electrochemical performances with dendrite-free Zn deposits, lower polarization, higher coulombic efficiency over 99% after long cycles and 10 times higher cycle life, which is confirmed by constructing Zn symmetrical cell and Zn|ZnSO₄ + Li₂SO₄|LiFePO₄ full cell.