Enhanced Hydrogen Bonding Through Strong Water-Locking Additives for Long-Term Cycling of Zinc Ion Batteries

Abstract

The promising energy storage devices, zinc ion batteries (ZIBs), face challenges such as dendritic growth and side reactions, which hinder their application and development. As a polar group, hydroxyl groups can utilize hydrogen bonding to stably anchor water molecules, preventing contact between water and the anode. Moreover, they can attract and guide Zn²⁺ to rapidly and uniformly deposit on the anode. Here, the introduction of multi-hydroxyl water-locking additive Lactobionic acid (LA) molecules is proposed into conventional electrolytes. Through an in situ reaction between the highly reactive carboxyl groups on LA molecules and the zinc anode, a stable multi-hydroxyl protective layer is formed on the anode surface, effectively preventing interface corrosion and dendritic growth. As a result, the Zn||Zn symmetric cell with LA exhibits remarkable performance, cycling for 2300 h under 1 mA cm⁻² and 1 mAh cm⁻². Even under more rigorous conditions of 10 mA cm⁻² and 10 mAh cm⁻², it maintains over 800 h of cycling durability. Moreover, in the Zn||NH₄V₄O₁₀ full cell configuration, an impressive capacity retention rate of 80.35% after 2000 cycles at a current density of 5 A g⁻¹. This innovative method can open a new avenue for designing high-performance ZIBs.