Journal of Energy Chemistry ›› 2022, Vol. 64 ›› Issue (1): 246-262.DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2021.04.016

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Interfacial parasitic reactions of zinc anodes in zinc ion batteries: Underestimated corrosion and hydrogen evolution reactions and their suppression strategies

Aruuhan Bayaguuda, Yanpeng Fub, Changbao Zhua,*   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, Sun-Yat Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China;
    bSchool of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2021-02-24 Revised:2021-04-06 Accepted:2021-04-09 Online:2022-01-15 Published:2022-10-28
  • Contact: *E-mail address: zhuchb6@mail.sysu.edu.cn (C. Zhu).
  • About author:Aruuhan Bayaguud is a postdoc research fellow in School of Materials Science and Engineering at Sun Yat-Sen University. He received his B.S. (2012) and Ph. D. (2017) degrees in Chemistry from Tsinghua University. His current research focuses on the devel- opment of advanced materials for energy storage and conversion, especially stable metal anodes for rechargeable batteries.
    Yanpeng Fu is an associate professor of material sci- ence in Guangdong University of Technology. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry at Free University of Berlin in 2012. From 2012 to 2014, she worked as a postdoctoral at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materi- als and Energy in Berlin, Germany. Her current research interests mainly include controllable growth of nanomaterials and two-dimensional materials for clean energy.
    Changbao Zhu is a Professor of Department of Materials Science and Engineering in Sun-Yat Sen University, China. He is honored as National Thousand Youth Talents in 2016. He worked with Prof. Maier as a postdoc and received his doctoral degree in Max Planck Institute for solid state research, Germany. He graduated in France from the European master program “Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion”. Prior to that, He obtained master degree in Xiamen University and bachelor degree in Chongqing University, China. His research interests focus on nanoionics and advanced energy storage systems, i.e. lithium /sodium/ potassium ion batteries, aqueous batteries and solid state batteries.

Abstract: Featured with high power density, improved safety and low-cost, rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batter-ies (ZIBs) have been revived as possible candidates for sustainable energy storage systems in recent years. However, the challenges inherent in zinc (Zn) anode, namely dendrite formation and interfacial parasitic reactions, have greatly impeded their practical application. Whereas the critical issue of dendrite forma-tion has attracted widespread concern, the parasitic reactions of Zn anodes with mildly acidic electrolytes have received very little attentions. Considering that the low Zn reversibility that stems from interfacial parasitic reactions is the major obstacle to the commercialization of ZIBs, thorough understanding of these side reactions and the development of correlative inhibition strategies are significant. Therefore, in this review, the brief fundamentals of corrosion and hydrogen evolution reactions at Zn surface is pre-sented. In addition, recent advances and research efforts addressing detrimental side reactions are reviewed from the perspective of electrode design, electrode-electrolyte interfacial engineering and elec-trolyte modification. To facilitate the future researches on this aspect, perspectives and suggestions for relevant investigations are provided lastly.

Key words: Zinc anodes, Mildly acidic electrolytes, Side reactions, Coulombic efficiency, Corrosions, HER