Constructing Acrylic-Bonded Stationary Phase as an Artificial SEI for Highly Stable Zn Metal Anodes

Abstract

The development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) has been severely restricted by metallic Zn anode issues, including Zn dendrites and uncontrollable side reactions. The direct interfacial modification of a Zn anode is a facile and effective strategy that has been favored by researchers. Herein, we propose an acrylic-bonded stationary layer as an artificial solid electrolyte interface (SEI) for the Zn anode to manipulate the Zn plating/stripping. The constructed modification layer is made of zinc acrylate cross-linked to form a three-dimensional (3D) porous structure, which can induce uniform deposition of zinc ions and balance the local electric field, thus achieving homogeneous nucleation and uniform Zn deposition. More importantly, this fabricated layer is chemically bonded to the zinc surface and can tolerate prolonged zinc deposition without shedding compared with conventional physical coatings. Consequently, the Zn/Zn symmetric cells, Zn/Na0.92V2O5·nH2O (NaVO) full cells, and Zn hybrid supercapacitors using this acrylic-bonded modified anode demonstrate greatly improved cycle performance.