Determined to Win || Professor He Xianru's team from Southwest Petroleum University: Realizing ultra-stable aqueous zinc metal anodes through efficient polymer interfaces that pre-establish ion transport pathways via electrolyte initiators

Determined to Win || <AM> Professor He Xianru's team from Southwest Petroleum University: Realizing ultra-stable aqueous zinc metal anodes through efficient polymer interfaces that pre-establish ion transport pathways via electrolyte initiators

In March 2025 , Professor He Xianru's team from Southwest Petroleum University published an online paper titled " Pre -Established Ion Transport Pathways Through Electrolyte Initiator for High-Efficiency Polymer Interface Enabling Ultra-Stable Aqueous Zinc-Metal Anodes " in the journal Advanced Materials ( IF=27.4) . This study cleverly utilized the inherent reducibility of zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate ( Zn(OTf) ₂ ) for the first time and successfully constructed a polymer interface layer with high ion transport efficiency in situ on the surface of the zinc metal negative electrode. After combining with trace oxidants, the OTf⁻ anions in Zn(OTf) ₂ effectively initiate the in situ polymerization of monomers on the surface of the zinc metal negative electrode through redox reactions, while the Zn ²⁺ cations remain inside the interface layer, pre-constructing zinc-philic ion transport channels, thereby improving the ion transport efficiency of the interface layer. Compared with the in-situ polymer interface layer prepared by the traditional initiation system, this strategy effectively overcomes the ion transport bottleneck of the highly adhesive and water-resistant polymer layer and achieves a synergistic balance between ionic conductivity, water resistance, adhesion and mechanical properties.

Product Citations

CLUDE will help you succeed in your scientific research ! We are honored that CLUDE's products "zinc foil, copper foil, carbon cloth, PVDF, Ketjen black, battery shell" have helped the research achieve results.

Research Summary

Sustainable energy storage systems play a vital role in promoting green and low-carbon energy transformation and sustainable development. Aqueous zinc metal batteries ( AZMBs ) are considered to be one of the most promising sustainable energy storage technologies due to their advantages such as high safety, high theoretical specific capacity and low cost. However, the instability of the zinc metal anode leads to its short cycle life, which greatly limits the practical application of AZMBs . Therefore, achieving long-term cycle stability and reversibility of the zinc metal anode remains a major challenge. Constructing an interfacial polymer protective layer between the zinc metal anode and the electrolyte can form a stable barrier and is regarded as an effective and easy-to-implement solution. However, although such polymer systems have excellent adhesion and can tolerate the electrolyte environment for a long time, they usually have high interfacial impedance and low ion transfer efficiency, which limits their practical application as functional zinc metal anode interface layers.

Graphical analysis

Figure 1.  Design of in situ polymer interfacial layer with efficient Zn ²⁺ transport.

Figure 2.  Physical and chemical properties of polymer interfacial layers. a) Contact angles of bare Zn , PMA@Zn , PMN _-x @Zn, and Zn(OTf) ₂ electrolyte. b) Ionic conductivity. c) Zn2 ⁺ transfer number. d) Comparison of activation energy. e) Cycling performance of Zn-Zn symmetric cells assembled using different Zn metal anodes . f) Mechanical properties of PMA and PMN _-x interfacial layers.

Figure 3. Microstructural properties and corrosion resistance of PMN interfacial layer. a) Morphology of bare Zn and b) PMN@Zn . c) Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) image of PMN@Zn and d) SEM cross-sectional image of PMN@Zn . e) Adhesion and f) mechanical strength of PMN interfacial layer. The dashed line in e) indicates the adhesion. g) SEM image of PMN@Zn and h) XRD patterns of bare Zn and PMN@Zn after immersion in Zn(OTf) ₂ electrolyte at 25 °C for 7 days . i) Tafel plots of bare Zn and PMN @Zn tested in Zn(OTf) ₂ electrolyte .

Figure 4.  Zn deposition / dissolution behavior at the Zn anode / electrolyte interface . SEM and LCSM optical images of a) PMN@Zn and b ) bare Zn after 100 cycles at 1 mA cm ^-2 /1 mAh cm ^-2 . c) In situ optical microscope images of bare Zn and d) PMN@Zn at 10 mA cm -2. e ) Scanning electrochemical ^microscope ( SECM) images of bare Zn and f) PMN@Zn surfaces . g , h) Simulation of electric field distribution at the Zn/ electrolyte interface. i) Binding energy of Zn ²⁺ with H ₂ O , PMA , PNVP and PMN . j) Schematic diagram of Zn deposition process at the interface of bare Zn and PMN@Zn .

Figure 5. Electrochemical stability and reversibility of different Zn metal anodes. a) Coulombic efficiency of Zn deposition / dissolution in Zn-Cu battery at current density of 1 mA cm ^-2 and capacity of 1 mAh cm ^-2 . b , c) Corresponding voltage curves at different cycles in Zn-Cu battery. d , e) Cycling life of Zn-Zn symmetric battery at current density of 1 and 5 mA cm ^-2 . f) Rate performance at different current density. g) Comparison of electrochemical performance of this study with that of recently reported literature.

Figure 6. Electrochemical performance of Zn-NVO and Zn-PANI full cells. a) CV curves of Zn-NVO cells at different scan rates . b) Linear relationship between log( i ) and log( v ) of peaks 1 and 2. c) Contribution of pseudocapacitive control at different scan rates. d) Rate performance. Self-discharge curves of Zn-NVO cells assembled using e) PMN@Zn and f) bare Zn . g) Long-term cycling stability of Zn-NVO cells at a current density of 1 A g ^-1 . h) Long-term cycling stability of Zn-PANI cells at a current density of 5 A g ^-1 .

Summary and Outlook

This study proposed an innovative KPS/Zn(OTf) ₂ redox initiation system, which realized the construction of a multifunctional in-situ polymer interface layer and significantly improved the electrochemical stability and reversibility of the zinc metal anode. Compared with the traditional initiation system, the in-situ polymer interface layer ( PMN ) induced by Zn(OTf) ₂ effectively overcomes the ion transport bottleneck caused by high adhesion and waterproof polymer layer. The thickness of the PMN interface layer is only 8 μm , which ensures efficient ion transport while achieving a balance between excellent mechanical properties, stable adhesion and good water resistance. In addition, experimental characterization and theoretical calculation results show that the PMN interface layer can promote the desolvation process of Zn ²⁺ and regulate the uniform flux of Zn² ⁺ , thereby achieving uniform zinc deposition. These synergistic effects effectively inhibit the growth of zinc dendrites and interfacial side reactions, greatly extending the cycle life of the zinc metal anode. This study provides new research ideas for the next generation of high-safety and high-reliability battery technology, and promotes the design and application of high-performance zinc metal anode materials.

END

Canrd Brief Introduce

Canrd use high battery R&D technology(core members are from CATL) and strong Chinese supply chain to help many foreign companies with fast R&D. We provide lab materials,electrodes, custom dry cells, material evaluation, perfomance and test, coin/pouch/cylindrical cell equipment line, and other R&D services.

Email:janice@canrd.com    

Phone/Wechat/WhatsApp/Skype:+86 18928276992

Website : www.canrud.com