A dendrite-free zinc anode for rechargeable aqueous batteries

Qinping Jian, Yuhan Wan, Jing Sun, Maochun Wu, Tianshou Zhao

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

61 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Zinc is a promising anode material for rechargeable aqueous batteries owing to its high specific capacity, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the uncontrollable Zn dendrite growth remains a grand challenge that hinders the practical application of this type of electrode. Here, we create a functional porous polybenzimidazole (PBI) nanofiber layer onto a Cu surface as the substrate of the Zn anode to mitigate dendrite formation. The PBI nanofibers with abundant N-containing functional groups not only allow uniform Zn nucleation on the Cu surface but also facilitate uniform transport of Zn2+ionsviaelectrokinetic conduction, leading to a dendrite-free Zn deposition and thus, a highly reversible Zn plating/stripping process. As a result, a symmetric cell equipped with this newly developed Zn electrode is stably cycled for over 1000 cycles without short-circuits at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. More impressively, when paired with a MnO2cathode, the full cell delivers a nearly 100% capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 1 A g−1with a specific capacity of about 150 mA h g−1. These results demonstrate that the functional porous PBI nanofiber layer created in this work stands to both dramatically extend battery cycle life and boost battery performance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20175-20184
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume8
Issue number38
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Oct 2020
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemistry(all)
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Materials Science(all)

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