High‐Performance Zinc Anode Enabled by Zincophilic and Hydrophobic ZnO@Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon/MXene Interface

Abstract

Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs) are one of the most promising systems for large‐scale energy storage, but their zinc metal anodes suffer from unsatisfactory stability and reversibility due to the uncontrollable Zn dendrite growth and undesirable side reactions. Herein, a ZnO‐anchored nitrogen‐doped carbon/Ti3C2Tx MXene composite (ZnO@NC/MXene) is developed as a protective layer onto the zinc anode, which establishes a zincophilic and hydrophobic interface. In the ZnO@NC/MXene layer, the nitrogen sites efficiently enhances the adsorption of Zn2+, the ZnO provides homogenous nucleation sites for Zn2+ deposition, and the highly conductive MXene ensures even electric field distribution, synergistically inhibiting the zinc dendrites. Additionally, the hydrophobic ZnO@NC/MXene layer suppresses side reactions by limiting contact between the Zn anode and active water. Therefore, the Zn electrode modified by the ZnO@NC/MXene layer shows remarkable stability with a cycle life of over 2600 h in Zn||Zn symmetric cell and outstanding reversibility with an average coulombic efficiency of 99.37% for over 1000 cycles in Zn||Cu asymmetric cell. Coupled with V2O5 cathode, the full cell reveals excellent cycle stability of exceeding 1000 cycles at 4 A g‐1. These results indicate the potential of the zincophilic and hydrophobic ZnO@NC/MXene as a promising interface layer for protecting Zn anode in AZIBs.