A self-repairing polymer-inorganic composite coating to enable high-performance Zn anodes for zinc-ion batteries

Weijing Wu, Yuanfu Deng*, Guohua Chen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There are some critical issues hindering the practical applications of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), although they possess high safety and low cost as one of promising energy storge devices, such as the Zn dendrite growth and the by-product of Zn4SO4(OH)6·xH2O (ZHS) resulted from some side reactions in a mild electrolyte. Herein, a compact and self-repairing solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film, as labeled the PVDF-Zn(TFSI)2-ZHS coating [The PVDF and Zn(TFSI)2 are polyvinylidene fluoride and zinc bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, respectively], which turns the in-situ generated ZHS into a beneficial ingredient onto the pre-coated PVDF-based composite coating layer containing Zn(TFSI)2, was designed and fabricated by a simple doctor blade method. It is shown that the SEI layer can effectively isolate Zn from the electrolyte and homogenize the Zn2+ flux, and thus effectively suppress side reactions and dendrites growth. Benefiting from the hybrid SEI layer, a symmetric cell exhibits a high cycling stability over 750 h at 2.0 mA/cm2 and 2.0 mAh/cm2, and meanwhile, a full-cell, coupled with K+ pre-intercalation α-MnO2 (KMO) cathode, displays excellent rate performance, stable coulombic efficiency and an acceptable cycle life. This work provides a feasible approach for simple and scalable modification of Zn anodes to achieve high performance.

© 2023  Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
Original languageEnglish
Article number108424
JournalChinese Chemical Letters
Volume34
Issue number12
Online published6 Apr 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Research Keywords

  • Polymer-inorganic composite coating
  • PVDF
  • Self-repairing
  • Zn anodes
  • Zn(TFSI)2
  • Zn-ion batteries

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A self-repairing polymer-inorganic composite coating to enable high-performance Zn anodes for zinc-ion batteries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this