Quinone carbonyl activation for in situ constructing kinetic-boosted zincophilic polymer interphase toward high performance Zn metal anode

Abstract

A facile interfacial engineering on Zn foil anode to boost fast Zn-ion kinetics for uniform Zn deposition is highly desired in rechargeable Zn batteries. Herein, we report a 3 s dipping method to in situ construct a quinone carbonyl rich polymer interphase on Zn foil with fast Zn-ion capture-transfer-deposition kinetics. Quinone carbonyl obtained through “hydroxyl to carbonyl” oxidation on tannic acid (TA) molecule shows high adsorption to Zn-ion, effectively activating Zn-ion conduction on TA. The quinone carbonyl rich TA based polymer interphase possesses abundant zincophilic carbonyl sites, which facilitate rapid Zn-ion transfer through ample channels, accelerated Zn-ion deposition with carbonyl-assisted [Zn(H2O)6]2+ desolvation, moreover, quick Zn-ion capture from the electrolyte. The fast Zn-ion kinetics regulate super-uniform and flat Zn deposition by promoting multisite Zn nucleation and reducing concentration polarization induced Zn dendrites. Consequently, as-prepared OTA-SO@Zn anode shows high cycling stability (3200 h at 1 mA cm−2/1 mA h cm−2; 550 h at 5 mA cm−2/5 mA h cm−2) in symmetric cell. The OTA-SO@Zn||CNT@MnO2 full cell delivers capacity retention of 99.2% after 1500 cycles, ranking the top-level of aqueous Zn batteries. This work sheds light on exploration of quinone carbonyl in electrochemical ion-transport and provides an efficient Zn metal protective method with large-scale implementation potential.