Metal-coordination chemistry guiding preferred crystallographic orientation for reversible zinc anode

The long-term reversible plating/stripping of Zn anodes is one of the decisive parts inside various Zn based aqueous batteries, but originally restricted by irregular dendrite/by-products issues. Guided by the metal-coordination chemistry, a novel additive, sorbitol (SBT), is introduced into the traditional ZnSO4 electrolyte to achieve preferred (002) orientation growth with stably invertible Zn deposition, while modulate the primary solvation structure for Zn2+ through expelling some active H2O molecules to alleviate common side reactions, simultanously. The robust Zn2+-SBT compound enables a much weaker interaction with (002) than (100) and (101), inducing its slower growth and resulting in its ultimate exposure. With a lower surface energy, the primary (002) on Zn anode surface effectively impedes the occurrence of Zn dendrite and several by-products. Excellent stabilities have finally been realized in Zn-Zn symmetric cells and several kinds of full cells, elucidating its potential in future Zn based devices.

Automated summary

This article introduces a method to improve the long-term reversible plating/stripping of zinc anodes by introducing sorbitol as an additive. The research found that sorbitol can promote the preferred (002) orientation growth on the zinc anode surface, which facilitates stable inversion of the zinc deposition. Additionally, sorbitol modulates the solvation structure of Zn2+ and reduces common side reactions. Experimental results demonstrate the excellent stability of the zinc anode in zinc-zinc symmetric cells and other types of full cells.