Mitigating crosstalk through water deactivation to achieve advanced Zn-ion batteries with superior temperature...

Zn||V₂O₅ full cell exhibit excellent low-temperature performance in Zn(ClO₄)₂ based electrolytes due to the strong hydrogen bond breaking effect. However, the crosstalk effect between the V₂O₅ cathode and Zn anode at room temperature leads to continuous side reactions, highly limiting their practical application. Herein, a water deactivation strategy by introducing methanol additive has been proposed and its effect mechanism on the crosstalk has been explored. It is found that the methanol additive is conducive to build a water-poor solvation structure and reduce the activity of free water, inhibiting the corrosion and improving the cycle stability of Zn anode. In addition, methanol additive triggers the reversible cycling of inert Zn₃(OH)₂(V₂O₇)(H₂O)₂, and suppress its deposition on Zn anode, then breaking the electrochemical crosstalk problem of the Zn||V₂O₅ system. As expected, the Zn||V₂O₅ full cell at the designed electrolyte demonstrates superior performance at room and low temperature, delivering a high specific capacity of 300 mAh g^-1 at 25 °C, and operating stably for 7500 (>2000 h) cycles without capacity loss at -20 °C, which are superior to most reported works. This work might provide new ideas for addressing electrochemical crosstalk and constructing advanced batteries with superior temperature adaptability.