Planar Deposition via In Situ Conversion Engineering for Dendrite-Free Zinc Batteries

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Energy Storage

Background:

• Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) offer high capacity and safety but suffer from short cycle life due to side reactions and zinc dendrite formation.
• Improving the stability of aqueous electrolytes and controlling zinc deposition are crucial for practical ZIB applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an effective strategy for enhancing the long-term stability and performance of zinc anodes in ZIBs.
• To investigate a novel protective layer that suppresses corrosion and promotes uniform zinc deposition.

Main Methods:

• An in situ conversion strategy was employed to create a dual-layer protective structure (VZSe/V@Zn) on the zinc metal anode.
• The structure consists of a VSe2-ZnSe outer layer and a nanometallic V inner layer, designed for low lattice mismatch and corrosion resistance.

Main Results:

• The VZSe/V@Zn anode demonstrated exceptional durability (238 h at 50 mA cm⁻²) in Zn||Zn symmetric cells with high depth of discharge (68.3%).
• In anode-free systems, the protective layer enabled up to 2000 cycles with 93.1% capacity retention and 99.998% average coulombic efficiency.

Conclusions:

• The fabricated lattice-matching dual-layer protective coating effectively enhances interfacial properties, corrosion resistance, and planar zinc deposition.
• This approach provides a viable strategy for developing high-performance and long-lasting zinc batteries.