In-situ Self-Assembled organic anion interfacial layer on Zn anode surface for boosting the stability of aqueous zinc ion energy storage devices

Dendrite growth and the occurrence of side reactions are the main challenges in improving the cycle durability of zinc-ion energy storage devices. To address these challenges, we propose a novel strategy to protect the Zn anode by constructing an in-situ self-assembled organic anion interfacial layer (OAIPL). The in-situ self-assembled OAIPL by chemical adsorption can effectively mitigate the hydrogen evolution and corrosion side reactions by obstructing the diffusion of free and active water to the surface of the Zn anode, it also can optimize the interfacial reaction kinetics by accelerating the diffusion of Zn2+ ions from the solution to the Zn anode surface. Additionally, the Zn dendrite can be effectively restrained by transforming the electrodeposition of Zn from 2D to 3D diffusion on the Zn anode surface. Based on this strategy, stable cycling for over 3600 h at 1 mA cm-2 (1 mAh cm-2) in the symmetric Zn//Zn cell and 150,000 cycles in the aqueous zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitor can be achieved. The Zn//MnO2 full battery also exhibits a high specific capacity retention of 99.21 % after 1000 cycles with a constant Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100 %.