Stable, high-performance, dendrite-free, seawater-based aqueous batteries

Metal anode instability, including dendrite growth, metal corrosion, and hetero-ions interference, occurring at the electrolyte/electrode interface of aqueous batteries, are among the most critical issues hindering their widespread use in energy storage. Herein, a universal strategy is proposed to overcome the anode instability issues by rationally designing alloyed materials, using Zn-M alloys as model systems (M = Mn and other transition metals). An insitu optical visualization coupled with finite element analysis is utilized to mimic actual electrochemical environments analogous to the actual aqueous batteries and analyze the complex electrochemical behaviors. The Zn-Mn alloy anodes achieved stability over thousands of cycles even under harsh electrochemical conditions, including testing in seawaterbased aqueous electrolytes and using a high current density of 80 mA cm(-2). The proposed design strategy and the in-situ visualization protocol for the observation of dendrite growth set up a new milestone in developing durable electrodes for aqueous batteries and beyond.

Automated summary

This study proposes a universal strategy to overcome metal anode instability issues in aqueous batteries by designing alloyed materials, using Zn-M alloys as model systems. The results show that Zn-Mn alloy anodes can achieve stability over thousands of cycles even under harsh electrochemical conditions, setting a new milestone for developing durable electrodes for aqueous batteries and beyond.