High-performance zinc anodes enabled by atmospheric plasma enhanced cellulose protective layer for zinc ion batteries

Zinc (Zn) anode suffers from poor surface stability caused by Zn dendrite formation and side reactions, which hinder the development of aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) for clean and safe energy storage. Conventional interfacial layers based on polymetric and bioderived materials may be subjected to uneven ion transport and week structural integrity during cycling. Herein, a scalable and facile atmospheric plasma (AP)-based approach is proposed and systematically studied to improve the electrochemical performance of Zn interfacial layers via plasma induced surface modification. Instrumental characterization in conjunction with ion flow simulation indicate that AP modified cellulose-based Zn artificial layer with more negatively charged surface and improved mechanical property exhibits significantly enhanced cycling stability and dendritic suppression capability, leading to an improved cycling stability of more than 1000 h at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² for 1 mA h cm⁻² for Zn anode with such interfacial layer. Moreover, the versatility of the AP treatment can also be extended to other polymers such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). As a result, the full cells using AP-treated Zn anodes exhibit outstanding cycling stability for more than 1500 cycles. This work offers a scalable and facile surface treatment solution to improve the surface stability of Zn anodes.