A Stable High-Performance Zn-Ion Batteries Enabled by Highly Compatible Polar Co-Solvent

Uncontrollable growth of Zn dendrites, irreversible dissolution of cathode material and solidification of aqueous electrolyte at low temperatures severely restrict the development of aqueous Zn-ion batteries. In this work, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFEA) with a volume fraction of 50% as a highly compatible polar-solvent is introduced to 1.3 M Zn(CFSO) aqueous electrolyte, achieving stable high-performance Zn-ion batteries. Massive theoretical calculations and characterization analysis demonstrate that TFEA weakens the tip effect of Zn anode and restrains the growth of Zn dendrites due to electrostatic adsorption and coordinate with HO to disrupt the hydrogen bonding network in water. Furthermore, TFEA increases the wettability of the cathode and alleviates the dissolution of VO, thus improving the capacity of the full battery. Based on those positive effects of TFEA on Zn anode, VO cathode, and aqueous electrolyte, the Zn//Zn symmetric cell delivers a long cycle-life of 782 h at 5 mA cm and 2 mA h cm. The full battery still declares an initial capacity of 116.78 mA h g, and persists 87.73% capacity in 2000 cycles at -25 °C. This work presents an effective strategy for fully compatible co-solvent to promote the stability of Zn anode, VO cathode and aqueous electrolyte for high-performance Zn-ion batteries.