Issue 25, 2023

Constructing a well-wettable interface on a three-dimensional copper foam host with reinforced copper nanowires to stabilize zinc metal anodes

Abstract

Metallic zinc (Zn), with high safety, low cost, and environmental friendliness, is deemed a promising anode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries. However, the practical application of Zn anode is still impeded by the growth of dendrites during the Zn plating/stripping process. Designing three-dimensional host material as the substrate is an effective approach to enhance the highly reversible plating/stripping behavior of the Zn anode. In this study, Cu nanowire-decorated Cu foam (Cu NW@Cu foam) with good wettability and zinc affinity was fabricated to enhance the reversibility of electroplating/electrostripping. It was found that the Cu NW@Cu foam host cannot only offer extra zincophilic nucleation sites by increasing the surface area but also guide a uniform ion distribution due to a capillary-like effect induced by the arrangement of numerous copper nanowires. As a result, the Cu NW@Cu foam as a well-wettable and zincophilic host shows a mosslike dendrite-free plating/stripping process with a small nucleation overpotential (19.5 mV) and an ultra-stable lifespan of 3000 h at 1 mA cm−2 and 1 mA h cm−2 in zinc symmetrical batteries. Moreover, the assembled full-cell with Zn@Cu NW@Cu foam as the anode and α-MnO2 nanowire as the cathode delivered a stable discharge specific capacity of 181.8 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1 over 3000 cycles. This study may provide a reliable strategy for designing dendrite-free high-performance zinc host materials with highly wetting interfaces.

Graphical abstract: Constructing a well-wettable interface on a three-dimensional copper foam host with reinforced copper nanowires to stabilize zinc metal anodes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Mar 2023
Accepted
28 May 2023
First published
01 Jun 2023

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 13742-13753

Constructing a well-wettable interface on a three-dimensional copper foam host with reinforced copper nanowires to stabilize zinc metal anodes

Y. Fang, K. Han, Z. Wang, J. Shi, P. Li and X. Qu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 13742 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA01421E

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