ABSTRACT
Rechargeable aqueous zinc (Zn) batteries are promising for large-energy storage because of their low cost, high safety, and environmental compatibility, but their implementation is hindered by the severe irreversibility of Zn metal anodes as exemplified by water-induced side reactions (H2 evolution and Zn corrosion) and dendrite growth. Here, we find that the introduction of a hydrophobic carbonate cosolvent into a dilute aqueous electrolyte exhibits a much stronger ability to address the reversible issues facing Zn anodes than that with hydrophilic ones. Among the typical carbonates (ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, and diethyl carbonate (DEC)), DEC as the most hydrophobic additive enables the strongest breaking of water's H-bond network and replaces the solvating H2O in a Zn2+-solvation sheath, which significantly reduces the water activity and its decomposition. Additionally, DEC molecules preferentially adsorb onto the Zn surface to create an H2O-poor electrical double layer and render a dendrite-free Zn2+-plating behavior. The formulated hybrid 2 m Zn(OTf)2 + 7 m DEC electrolyte endows the Zn electrode with an ability to achieve high cycling stability (over 3500 h at 5 mA cm-2 with 2.5 mA h cm-2) and supports the stable operation of Zn||V2O5·nH2O full battery. This efficient strategy with hydrophobic cosolvent suggests a promising direction for designing aqueous battery chemistries.
ABSTRACT
Rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries (RAZBs) are promising for large-scale energy storage because of their superiority in addressing cost and safety concerns. However, their practical realization is hampered by issues including dendrite growth, poor reversibility and low coulombic efficiency (CE) of Zn anodes due to parasitic reactions. Here, we report a non-concentrated aqueous electrolyte composed of 2 m zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate (Zn(OTf)2) and the organic dimethyl carbonate (DMC) additive to stabilize the Zn electrochemistry. Unlike the case in conventional aqueous electrolytes featuring typical Zn[H2O]6 2+ solvation, a solvation sheath of Zn2+ with the co-participation of the DMC solvent and OTf- anion is found in the formulated H2O + DMC electrolyte, which contributes to the formation of a robust ZnF2 and ZnCO3-rich interphase on Zn. The resultant Zn anode exhibits a high average CE of Zn plating/stripping (99.8% at an areal capacity of 2.5 mA h cm-2) and dendrite-free cycling over 1000 cycles. Furthermore, the H2O + DMC electrolytes sustain stable operation of RAZBs pairing Zn anodes with diverse cathode materials such as vanadium pentoxide, manganese dioxide, and zinc hexacyanoferrate. Rational electrolyte design with organic solvent additives would promote building better aqueous batteries.
