Highly reversible zinc metal anode enabled by strong Brønsted acid and hydrophobic interfacial chemistry

Uncontrollable zinc (Zn) plating and hydrogen evolution greatly undermine Zn anode reversibility. Previous electrolyte designs focus on suppressing H₂O reactivity, however, the accumulation of alkaline byproducts during battery calendar aging and cycling still deteriorates the battery performance. Here, we present a direct strategy to tackle such problems using a strong Brønsted acid, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (HTFSI), as the electrolyte additive. This approach reformulates battery interfacial chemistry on both electrodes, suppresses continuous corrosion reactions and promotes uniform Zn deposition. The enrichment of hydrophobic TFSI anions at the Zn electrolyte interface creates an H₂O-deficient micro-environment, thus inhibiting Zn corrosion reactions and inducing a ZnS-rich interphase. This highly acidic electrolyte demonstrates high Zn plating/stripping Coulombic efficiency up to 99.7% at 1 mA cm⁻² (>99.8% under higher current density and areal capacity). Additionally, Zn || ZnV₆O₁₃ full cells exhibit a high capacity retention of 76.8% after 2000 cycles.

Qingshun Nian, Xuan Luo, Digen Ruan, Yecheng Li, Bing-Qing Xiong, Zhuangzhuang Cui, Zihong Wang, Qi Dong, Jiajia Fan, Jinyu Jiang, Jun Ma, Zhihao Ma, Dazhuang Wang, Xiaodi Ren