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Boosting Zn anode reversibility via electrolyte solvation structure mediation by ethylene glycol monomethyl ether additive

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Abstract

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are considered promising energy storage devices due to their low cost, high capacity, and high safety. However, the application of aqueous zinc-ion batteries is subject to the limits of Zn anode reversibility, such as the formation of Zn dendrites, Zn anode corrosion, and hydrogen evolution reaction. In this study, we reported an electrolyte additive ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (MOE) with a modulated electrolyte solvation structure, which can suppress the growth of Zn dendrites and enhance the reversibility of Zn chemistry. The MOE molecular shows a higher electron cloud density of oxygen atoms, which enhances the strength of H–O covalent bonds. Therefore, MOE can break the interaction between H2O and H2O and the interaction between H2O and Zn2+. The solvation structure of Zn2+ is optimized to improve the reversibility of the Zn anode. As a consequence, the reversibility of Zn plating/stripping is promoted by 20% MOE-modified electrolyte with high CE of 99.4% at the current density of 1 mA cm−2, stably cycled for 2100 cycles. The Zn||Zn symmetrical cells can keep dendrite-free cycling for more than 4000 h in the same target electrolyte. In addition, the Zn||V2O5 cell can exhibit excellent long cycling stability for over 1000 cycles even at 5 A g−1 with the reversible capacity of 100 mAh g−1. This work provides a universal additive strategy to design versatile electrolytes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20220651), Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institution of China (21KJB480010), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (51672114). The work was also supported by the Scientific Research Foundation of Jiangsu University of Science and Technology (1112932004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaogang Li, Huan Tu, Rui Wu, Zongnan Wang, Yanhui Zhou, Yujie Zong, Yaokang Lu, Li Qian, Yixian Zhang, Siyu Song & Aihua Yuan

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, People’s Republic of China

    Chunfeng Meng

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  1. Xiaogang Li
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  2. Huan Tu
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  3. Rui Wu
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  4. Zongnan Wang
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Contributions

XG Li conceived and wrote the main manuscript text; H Tu completed the experiment, physical characterization, and electrochemical tests; R Wu, ZN Wang, and YH Zhou assisted the experiment and tests; YJ Zong, YK Lu, L Qian, YX Zhang, and SY Song provided suggestions for the manuscript; CF Meng provided suggestions for the FTIR and SEM characterization of samples; AH Yuan provided funding and suggestions for the revisions. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaogang Li or Aihua Yuan.

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Li, X., Tu, H., Wu, R. et al. Boosting Zn anode reversibility via electrolyte solvation structure mediation by ethylene glycol monomethyl ether additive. Ionics 30, 2665–2676 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-024-05486-5

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