Electrolyte Solvation Chemistry for Stabilizing the Zn Anode via Functionalized Organic Agents

Abstract

As a potential candidate for grid‐scale energy storage technology, aqueous Zn‐ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted considerable attention due to their intrinsic safety, environmental friendliness, and ease of fabrication. Nevertheless, the road to industry for this technique is hindered by serious issues, including undesired side reactions, random growth of the Zn dendrites, electrode passivation, and anode corrosion, which are associated with the high reactivity of water molecules during the electrochemical reactions. These challenges are strongly dependent on electrolyte solvation chemistry (ESC), which subsequently determines the electrochemical behavior of the metal ions and water molecules on the electrode surface. In this work, a comprehensive understanding of optimized ESC with specified functional groups on the mixing agents to stabilize the Zn anode is provided. First, the challenges facing the ZIBs and their chemical principles are outlined. Specific attention is paid to the working principles of the mixing agents with different functional groups. Then the recent progress is summarized and compared. Finally, perspectives on future research for the aqueous Zn batteries are presented from the point of view.

pH modulation for high capacity and long cycle life of aqueous zinc-ion batteries with β-MnO2 /3D graphene-carbon nanotube hybrids as cathode

“…Enhancing the performance of AZIBs on the basis of manganese-based cathode materials based on electrolyte modulation strategies has been extensively studied by scholars [26][27][28][29] . The first is to compare the effect of electrolytes with different metal anion compositions on the performance of batteries.…”