3D Cold-Trap Environment Printing for Long-Cycle Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries

Zn powder (Zn-P)-based anodes are always regarded as ideal anode candidates for zinc ion batteries owing to their low cost and ease of processing. However, the intrinsic negative properties of Zn-P-based anodes such as easy corrosion and uncontrolled dendrite growth have limited their further applications. Herein, a novel 3D cold-trap environment printing (3DCEP) technology is proposed to achieve the MXene and Zn-P (3DCEP-MXene/Zn-P) anode with highly ordered arrangement. Benefitting from the unique inhibition mechanism of high lattice matching and physical confinement effects within the 3DCEP-MXene/Zn-P anode, it can effectively homogenize the Zn2+ flux and alleviate the Zn deposition rate of the 3DCEP-MXene/Zn-P anode during Zn plating-stripping. Consequently, the 3DCEP-MXene/Zn-P anode exhibits a superior cycling lifespan of 1400 h with high coulombic efficiency of approximate to 9.2% in symmetric batteries. More encouragingly, paired with MXene and Co doped MnHCF cathode via 3D cold-trap environment printing (3 DCEP-MXene/Co-MnHCF), the 3DCEP-MXene/Zn-P//3DCEP-MXene/Co-MnHCF full battery delivers high cyclic durability with the capacity retention of 95.7% after 1600 cycles. This study brings an inspired universal pathway to rapidly fabricate a reversible Zn anode with highly ordered arrangement in a cold environment for micro-zinc storage systems.

Automated summary

In this research, a novel 3D cold-trap environment printing (3DCEP) technology is proposed to fabricate the MXene and Zn-P (3DCEP-MXene/Zn-P) anode with highly ordered arrangement. The 3DCEP-MXene/Zn-P anode demonstrates improved cycling lifespan and coulombic efficiency due to the unique inhibition mechanism and physical confinement effects within the anode. Furthermore, when paired with MXene and Co doped MnHCF cathode via 3DCEP, the full battery shows high cyclic durability with a capacity retention of 95.7% after 1600 cycles.