Journal Article

Aspartame Endowed ZnO-Based Self-Healing Solid Electrolyte Interface Film for Long-Cycling and Wide-Temperature Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries

Zhou, Xiangyang, Tang, Jingjing, Shi, Yunyu, Chang, Ruirui, Xu, Zheng-Long, Cao, Penghui, Yang, Juan, Zhang, Guilin, Meng, Qi, Liu, Yingkang, Rang, Yuqing

2025

Overview

Highlights Aspartame additive in electrolyte enables the in situ formation of ZnO-based solid electrolyte interphase, enhancing Zn anode corrosion resistance and stability with excellent self-healing capabilities. Zn║Zn symmetric cells with APM-modified electrolyte operate stably for 6,400 h at − 5 °C, 10,330 h at 25 °C, and 2,250 h at 40 °C, with a high DOD of 85.2%. Achieves 99.59% Coulombic efficiency, suppresses dendrite growth, and maintains 150 mAh g −1 capacity after 1,750 cycles in NH 4+ -V 2 O 5 full cells. Metallic Zn anodes suffer from hydrogen evolution and dendritic deposition in aqueous electrolytes, resulting in low Coulombic efficiency and poor cyclic stability for aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs). Constructing stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) with strong affinity for Zn and exclusion of water corrosion of Zn metal anodes is a promising strategy to tackle these challenges. In this study, we develop a self-healing ZnO-based SEI film on the Zn electrode surface by employing an aspartame (APM) as a versatile electrolyte additive. The hydrophobic nature and strong Zn affinity of APM can facilitate the dynamic self-healing of ZnO-based SEI film during cyclic Zn plating/stripping process. Benefiting from the superior protection effect of self-healing ZnO-based SEI, the Zn║Cu cells possess an average coulombic efficiency more than 99.59% over 1,000 cycles even at a low current density of 1 mA cm −2  − 1 mAh cm −2 . Furthermore, the Zn║NH 4 + -V 2 O 5 full cells display a large specific capacity of 150 mAh g −1  and high cyclic stability with a capacity retention of 77.8% after 1,750 cycles. In addition, the Zn║Zn cell delivers high temperature adaptability at a wide-temperature range from − 5 to 40 °C even under a high DOD of 85.2%. The enhanced capability and durability originate from the self-healing SEI formation enabled by multifunctional APM additives mediating both corrosion suppression and interfacial stabilization. This work presents an inspired and straightforward approach to promote a dendrite-free and wide-temperature rechargeable AZIBs energy storage system.

• Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore,Springer Nature B.V,SpringerOpen
• Subject: Affinity / Anodes / Aqueous electrolytes / Aqueous Zn-ion batteries / Aspartame / Aspartame additives / Corrosion / Corrosion resistance / Efficiency / Electrolytes / Electrolytic cells / Energy / Engineering / High temperature / Hydrogen evolution / Long cycle life / Low currents / Nanoscale Science and Technology / Nanotechnology / Nanotechnology and Microengineering / Self-healing ZnO-based SEI film / Solid electrolytes / Stability / Vanadium pentoxide / Wide-temperature operation / Zinc oxide