A Multifunctional Additive Facilitates Anode Directional Deposition to Achieve Dendrite-Less Zinc Ion Batteries

Abstract

Long-term reversible plating / stripping of zinc anodes is a key aspect of various zinc-based water cells, but the formation of irregular dendrites and the generation of by-products has been a great challenge, Here we demonstrate that the incorporation of butanediol (BDO) can effectively modulate the solvation shell structure of Zn2+ by displacing water molecules, thereby establishing a solvation shell with high affinity towards the (002) crystalline plane leads to uniform Zn deposition without dendrite formation. According to molecular simulations of adsorption energy, BDO molecules preferentially adsorb horizontally on the Zn (002) plane, controlling Zn2+ deposition sites and diffusion channels to promote the development of (002) plane while reducing H2 generation. These findings are ultimately achieved in both symmetric cells composed of Zn//Zn electrodes as well as Zn//V2O5 full cells.