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Updated: Oct 19, 2026

Zinc-Sponge Battery Electrodes that Suppress Dendrites
Published on: September 29, 2020
Adsorption-dominated interfacial regulation by sarcosine via hydrogen-bond water modulation for stable Zn metal
Zijing Wang1, Haolin Ju2, Hao Zhang1
1College of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, China.
Abstract:
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) hold great promise for safe and low-cost energy storage, yet their practical application is seriously hindered by the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), uncontrolled dendrite growth, and inert byproduct (Zn4SO4(OH)6·xH2O) deposition on the Zn anode. In this work, sarcosine (Sar) was adopted as a multifunctional bipolar electrolyte additive, and first-principles calculations combined with electrochemical tests and interfacial characterizations were performed to reveal its adsorption-dominated interfacial stabilization mechanism. Sar strongly adsorbs on the Zn surface to homogenize Zn2+ flux, regulate the electric field distribution, and reconfigure the interfacial environment. Meanwhile, Sar forms strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds with water molecules via its amino and carboxyl groups, reducing free water activity and suppressing HER. First-principles calculations verify the favorable adsorption configuration and high adsorption energy of Sar on the Zn surface. As a result, the Zn||Zn symmetric cell delivers ultra-long cycling stability over 2100 h at 1 mA cm-2, and the Zn||Cu half-cell exhibits a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.7%. The full cell with ZnI@CNT-AC cathode maintains excellent capacity retention after 3000 cycles. This work provides a simple, green, and low-cost strategy for stabilizing Zn anodes toward practical aqueous zinc-ion batteries.
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