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Long-Life Zn Anode Enabled with Complexing Ability of a Benign Electrolyte Additive
Dandan Yu1, Huanle Niu1, Tian Tian1
1Key Laboratory of Eco-functional Polymer Materials of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
|April 1, 2024
Summary
Trisodium citrate additive in zinc sulfate electrolytes prevents zinc dendrites and corrosion in aqueous zinc ion batteries. This enhances battery stability and performance, enabling longer cycle life.
Area of Science:
- Electrochemistry
- Materials Science
Background:
- Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) face challenges like zinc dendrites, corrosion, and hydrogen evolution reactions (HER).
- These issues limit the cycle life and safety of AZIBs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of trisodium citrate (NaCit) as an electrolyte additive in AZIBs.
- To improve zinc deposition and suppress detrimental side reactions.
Main Methods:
- Addition of trisodium citrate (NaCit) to ZnSO4 electrolyte.
- Electrochemical testing including cycling stability and rate performance.
- Density functional theory (DFT) simulations to analyze ion adsorption and interaction.
Main Results:
- NaCit promotes preferred Zn(002) crystal plane growth, leading to uniform zinc deposition without dendrites.
- Citrate ions (Cit-) adsorb on active sites, suppressing HER and zinc corrosion.
- Stable cycle life of 2000 hours achieved at 0.25 mA cm-2/0.05 mAh cm-2.
- DFT simulations confirm low adsorption energy of Cit- on Zn metal, favoring (002) plane growth.
- Assembled Zn//polyaniline full cells and pouch cells demonstrated good rate capability and cycling stability.
Conclusions:
- Trisodium citrate is an effective additive for enhancing AZIB performance.
- The complexation and dissolubilization effects of NaCit contribute to improved zinc deposition and stability.
- This strategy offers a viable pathway for designing high-performance and durable AZIBs.
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