Designing Dendrite‐Free Zinc Anodes for Advanced Aqueous Zinc Batteries

Abstract Zn metal has been regarded as the most promising anode for aqueous batteries due to its high capacity, low cost, and environmental benignity. Zn anode still suffers, however, from low Coulombic efficiency due to the side reactions and dendrite growth in slightly acidic electrolytes. Here, the Zn plating/stripping mechanism is thoroughly investigated in 1 m ZnSO 4 electrolyte, demonstrating that the poor performance of Zn metal in mild electrolyte should be ascribed to the formation of a porous by‐product (Zn 4 SO 4 (OH) 6 · x H 2 O) layer and serious dendrite growth. To suppress the side reactions and dendrite growth, a highly viscoelastic polyvinyl butyral film, functioning as an artificial…

• UO
  University of Wollongong
• AR
  Australian Research Council

  Awards: DP170102406, DE190100504, FT150100109