Collagen‐Mediated Solvent Sheathing and Derived Interfacial Manipulation Toward Ultrahigh‐Rate Zn Anodes

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 35; no. 2
• Main Authors: Gao, Jinyu, Qiu, Bin, Huang, Jie, Wen, Jiaming, Yang, Ming, Zhang, Peixin, He, Chuanxin, Mi, Hongwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2025
• Subjects: Anodes; Batteries; Charge transfer; Collagen; Corrosion potential; Crystal defects; electrolyte additives; Electrolytes; Electronegativity; Hydrogen evolution reactions; interfacial modification; Oxygen consumption; Reaction kinetics; Sheathing; Solid electrolytes; Solvents; Zinc fluorides; Zn anode
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202412791

The zinc (Zn) anode in zinc‐ion batteries suffers from potential defects such as wild dendrite growth, severe Zn corrosion, and violent hydrogen evolution reaction, inducing erratic interfacial charge transfer kinetics, which eventually leads to electrochemical failure. Here, collagen, a biomacromolecule, is added to achieve the reconstruction of the electrolyte hydrogen‐bonding network and the modification of the derived Zn interface. Benefiting from the electronegativity advantage of amino groups (‐NH2) in collagen, the Zn (002) crystal plane is preferentially exposed and the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) rich in ZnF2 and Zn3N2 promotes the rapid charge transfer of Zn anode. Thence, an impressive cumulative capacity of 7,500 mAh cm−2 at 30 mA cm−2 is achieved and the assembled Zn|VO2 cell exhibited robust cycle reversibility even when subject to a maximum current of 100 A g−1 and an ultra‐long cycle life of 20,000 cycles at 50 A g−1, with a single‐cycle capacity loss as low as 0.0021%. Such a convenient strategy of solvent sheathing regulation and derived interfacial manipulation opening up a promising universal approach toward long‐life and high‐rate Zn anodes. The introduction of collagen modulates the coordination environment of Zn2+ in aqueous electrolytes. The electronegative amino groups induce the preferential growth of the Zn(002) crystal plane during deposition and the in situ formation of SEI rich in ZnF2 and Zn3N2, which is beneficial to uniform and rapid interfacial ion transport kinetics.