Enabling Stable Zn Anode via a Facile Alloying Strategy and 3D Foam Structure

Aqueous zinc-ion battery (AZIB) has become a promising candidate in grid energy storage due to its low cost, environmental friendliness, and high safety. However, AZIB usually suffers from uncontrollable zinc deposition and dendrite growth as well as hydrogen evolution and passivation on the surface of zinc anode. To address the above issues, a unique 3D Zn alloy foam anode built from Zn-Sn-Pb alloy in 3D Cu foam is constructed by a facile hot dipping method. The proposed 3D Zn alloy anode, through introducing elements Sn and Pb, enhances the hydrogen evolution overpotential, reduces the corrosion current, greatly mitigates the self-corrosion in the electrolyte, and efficiently inhibits the growth of Zn dendrite during cycling. Importantly, such Zn alloy engineering together with a 3D Cu foam current collector enables highly stable Zn storage properties. The full cell assembled using the proposed 3D Zn alloy anode and MnO2 nanosheet cathode exhibits superior reversible capacity (103.4 mAh g(-1)) and excellent cycling stability (capacity retention of 87% over 4000 cycles) at 1.8 A g(-1).

Automated summary

By constructing a unique Zn-Sn-Pb alloy anode within 3D Cu foam, the issues of uncontrollable zinc deposition and dendrite growth in aqueous zinc-ion batteries have been successfully tackled, leading to enhanced stability and cycling life of the battery.