Stratified Zinc-Binding Strategy toward Prolonged Cycling and Flexibility of Aqueous Fibrous Zinc Metal Batteries

As one of the most promising candidates in wearable energy storage devices, aqueous fibrous zinc metal batteries (AFZMBs) remain limited by some severe challenges, such as short life span and unstable capacity performance, etc. In this work, the stability of AFZMB is extended by fabricating an innovative stratified deposition framework (SDF) anode. The as-prepared SDF electrode can achieve a stratified deposition of Zn metals from the bottom layer to the top layer due to the different overpotentials and binding energy of Zn deposition. Compared with commercial Zn fibers, this dexterous structure provides enough deposition space for Zn metals between the separator and the electrode, dramatically alleviating conventional dendrite puncture and prolonging life expectancy by an order of magnitude. It is found that SDF/AFZMB exhibits a long circulation of 2000 cycles with 89.0% capacity retention at 5 C with superior flexibility, demonstrating potential for application in future wearable electronics.

Automated summary

In this study, the stability of aqueous fibrous zinc metal batteries (AFZMB) was enhanced by fabricating an innovative stratified deposition framework (SDF) anode, which improved cycling life and greatly reduced dendrite puncture. The SDF/AFZMB showed a long cycling life of 2000 cycles with 89.0% capacity retention at 5C, demonstrating potential for future wearable electronics applications.