Nitrogen‐Doped and Sulfonated Carbon Dots as a Multifunctional Additive to Realize Highly Reversible Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs) using the Zn metal anode have been considered as one of the next‐generation commercial batteries with high security, robust capacity, and low price. However, parasitic reactions, notorious dendrites and limited lifespan still hamper their practical applications. Herein, an eco‐friendly nitrogen‐doped and sulfonated carbon dots (NSCDs) is designed as a multifunctional additive for the cheap aqueous ZnSO4 electrolyte, which can overcome the above difficulties effectively. The abundant polar groups (‐COOH, ‐OH, ‐NH2, and ‐SO3H) on the CDs surfaces can regulate the solvation structure of Zn2+ through decreasing the coordinated active H2O molecules, and thus redistribute Zn2+ deposition to avoid side reactions. Some of the negatively charged NSCDs are adsorbed on Zn anode surface to isolate the H2O/SO42‐ corrosion through the electrostatic shielding effect. The synergistic effect of the doped nitrogen species and the surface sulfonic groups can induce a uniform electrolyte flux and a homogeneous Zn plating with a (002) texture. As a result, the excellent cycle life (4000 h) and Coulombic efficiency (99.5%) of the optimized ZIBs are realized in typical ZnSO4 electrolytes with only 0.1 mg mL‐1 of NSCDs additive.

Tuning and Balancing the Donor Number of Lithium Salts and Solvents for High-Performance Li Metal Anode

“…The signals of LiF and C−F species in the F 1s spectra indicate that TTE also participates in the decomposition process (Figure S21). 28,29 The appearance of the S element at ∼162 eV indicates the decomposition of DMSO, considering DMSO is the sole sulfur source in the electrolyte (Figure S22), 30 and this is further confirmed by the S�O peak in O 1s spectra (Figure 4e). For LiNO 3 , it tends to be reduced to LiN x O y , Li 3 N, and Li 2 O, which can be ascribed to ∼400.3 and ∼398.7 eV in the N 1s spectra and ∼528.5 eV in the O 1s spectra, 9,31 respectively.…”

Research progress on the design of electrolyte additives and their functions for zinc-ion batteries

“…According to the discussion in the previous section, some challenges including Zn dendrite, corrosion and hydrogen evolution will lead to poor reversibility of Zn anodes, which is usually associated with the thermodynamic instability of Zn in aqueous electrolytes. This causes major problems with Zn anodes, including inhibitable Zn dendrite growth [78][79][80][81]. Conversely, a thermodynamically stable Zn anode can be provided in the organic electrolyte, which is beneficial to reduce the corrosion process.…”

Supramolecular Surface Engineering of Carbon Dots Enables Matrix‐Free Room Temperature Phosphorescence†

“…[ 7‐11 ] CDs have been widely used in sensing, in vitro / in vivo imaging, cancer therapy, catalysts and optoelectronic devices. [ 12‐19 ] Despite the well documented fluorescent properties, CDs with RTP have also been reported by several groups. [ 20 ] Lin and co‐workers reported the production of effective RTP by aggregation‐induced of CDs in trimellitic acid.…”