Researchers Reveal Ion Delivery Mechanism for Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries

Functional porous coating on zinc electrodes is emerging as a powerful ionic sieve to suppress dendrite growth and side reactions, thereby improving highly reversible aqueous zinc ion batteries. However, the ultrafast charge rate is limited by the substantial cation transmission strongly associated with dehydration efficiency. In a recent study, Professor Xiao He's team unveiled the entire dynamic process of solvated Zn2+ ions’ continuous dehydration of electrolytes across the MOF-electrolyte interface into channels with the aid of molecular simulations, taking zeolitic imidazolate framework ZIF-7 as proof-of-concept. The researchers also proposed optimization strategies to modify the MOF surface with hydrophilic groups to lower dehydration and to reduce the effective coating thickness to only ≈16 nm, paving the way to achieving long-term stable zinc anodes at high capacities. The study has been published in Angewandte Chemie, a leading international journal in chemistry. 

Journal Reference: 

Jiang, Y., Wan, Z., He, X., and Yang, J. Fine-tuning electrolyte concentration and metal–organic framework surface toward actuating fast Zn2+ dehydration for aqueous Zn-ion batteries. Angew Chem. 62, e202307274 (2023) 

>> To read the article in Chinese at East China Normal University, click here.