Zinc-Seeded PEDOT:PSS Aerogel Host as Highly Reversible Dendrite-Free Zinc Metal Anode

The parasitic reactions and rampant dendrite growth on the Zn anode side pose significant obstacles to the future applications of aqueous zinc ion batteries. Herein, a lightweight anode host is reported by introducing nanosized metallic Zn into the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) (P-S) aerogel (Zn/P-S). The ‒SO₃H groups interact with Zn²⁺ and guild their migrations along PSS chains, while the nanosized Zn offer additional nucleation sites and homogenize the electrical and Zn²⁺ ion concentration. Owing to these synergistic effects, uniform and dense Zn deposition with the (002) plane aligned parallel to the P-S substrate is achieved, even at a high plating capacity of 20 mAh cm^-2. Moreover, the deposited Zn over the Zn/P-S host (Zn@Zn/P-S) exhibits a highly reversible plating/stripping behavior with Coulombic efficiency maintained at 99% over 700 cycles. Consequently, the Zn@Zn/P-S-based symmetric Zn||Zn cell can work stably over 500 h at 0.5 mAh cm^‒2 and 100 h at 4 mAh cm^‒2 with a depth of discharge of 40%. A Zn@Zn/P-S||NaV₃O₈ full battery presents a high rate capability along with 82.2% capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 2 A g^‒1. This strategy provides a novel approach for designing polymer-based Zn anodes with corrosion-resistant and dendrite-free striping/plating behaviors.