CeY bimetallic oxide coating with abundant oxygen vacancies and superior semiconductor property for the stable zinc metal anode

• Y introduction increases oxygen vacancies in coating, forming more ion channels for rapid and uniform Zn 2+ deposition. • CYO (n – type semiconductor) forms ohmic contact, promoting electrostatic shielding, inhibiting side reactions. • CYO coating with bimetallic synergy offers more active sites, enhancing ZIB reaction kinetics and performance. The use of rare metal oxides as anode modification materials in Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) has been widely studied. However, the conductivity of Zn 2+ in metal oxide coatings is rather limited, leading to the unsatisfactory performance of ZIBs. In this work, a Ce 2 Y 2 O 7 (CYO) coating with abundant oxygen vacancies and superior semiconductor properties was prepared on the zinc anode, which can provide channels for Zn 2+ transport. Additionally, due to the large work function difference between CYO and Zn, an ohmic contact interface can be formed to efficiently repel SO 4 2− and attract Zn 2+ . Simultaneously, the synergistic effect of the bimetal provides a large number of active sites to reduce the interface resistance and the nucleation barrier. Therefore, the symmetric battery coated with the CYO anode exhibits a longer lifespan (1130 h), still achieving a Coulombic efficiency of 99.6 % after 900 cycles at a current density of 2.5 mA cm −2 .