The Construction of Binary Phase Electrolyte Interface for Highly Stable Zinc Anodes

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Abstract
Metal zinc is a promising anode candidate of aqueous zinc‐ion batteries due to high theoretical capacity, low cost, and high safety. However, it often suffers from hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), dendrite growth, and formation of by‐products. Herein, a triethyl phosphate (TEP)/H2O binary phase electrolyte (BPE) interface is developed by introducing TEP‐based electrolyte‐wetted hydrophobic polypropylene (PP) separator onto the Zn anode surface. The equilibrium of the BPE interface depends on the comparable surface tensions of H2O‐based and TEP‐based electrolytes on hydrophobic PP separator surfaces. The BPE interface induces Zn2+ solvation structure conversion from [Zn(H2O)x]2+ to [Zn(TEP)n(H2O)y]2+, where most solvated H2O molecules are removed. In [Zn(TEP)n(H2O)y]2+, the residual H2O molecules can be further constrained by the formation of H bonds between TEP and H2O molecules. Consequently, the ionization of solvated H2O molecules is effectively suppressed, and HER and by‐products are effectively restricted on Zn anode surfaces in BPE. As a result, Zn anodes exhibit a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.12% and superior cycling performance of 6000 h, which is much higher than the case in single‐phase aqueous electrolytes. To illustrate the feasibility of BPE in full cells, the Zn/AlxV2O5 batteries are assembled based on the BPE and exhibited enhanced cycling performance.
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (51822205)

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