Ultrathin Surface Coating Enables Stabilized Zinc Metal Anode

TLDR: In this paper, the zinc anode protection in neutral or mild acidic aqueous electrolytes has been investigated, but to date, there are few reports concerning the zinc protection.

Abstract: DOI: 10.1002/admi.201800848 electrolyte-based batteries can provide structural robustness and cost advantages over competing lithium-ion batteries. Among those aqueous batteries, zinc metal batteries with zinc as anode including zinc-air battery and Zn–MnO2 battery has been investigated intensively due to its high theoretical capacity (820 mAh g−1), low negative potential (−0.762 V vs SHE), abundance, low toxicity, and the intrinsic safety advantages.[18–30] In this regard, aqueous zinc ion batteries are expected to make substantial impacts toward advanced energy storage technologies, especially in stationary grid storage. Despite the current success in exploration of cathode (including air cathode, MnO2, and so on),[20,21,23,31–35] an important barrier of the Zn-based batteries is the poor cycle life, which mainly derives from the drawbacks of the Zn metal anode and the electrolyte. The zinc corrosion behavior in the alkaline electrolyte has been studied long time ago. Several successful strategies have been adopted to address the issue through the use of soluble additives in the alkaline electrolyte,[36] the redesign of zinc anode into three dimensional zinc foam[37] and so on. However, to date, there are few reports concerning the zinc anode protection in neutral or mild acidic aqueous electrolytes. Compared with the alkaline electrolyte where the charge carrier is Zn(OH)4