Electric Field Propelled Anion‐Type Solvation Structure Reconstruction With Accelerated Kinetics for Low‐Temperature Zinc Metal Batteries
Organic-rich eutectic electrolytes, which have been prevalent to address the electrolyte freezing and Zn dendrite growth challenges for low-temperature aqueous zinc-based batteries, suffer from sluggish Zn<sup>2+</sup> desolvation kinetics and mass transport. Here, we introduce aprotic acetone as a cosolvent to improve the performance of aqueous Zn(BF<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>-based electrolyte under cold environments. Leveraging dynamic keto-enol tautomerism in the primary solvation sheath of Zn<sup>2+</sup> propelled by the electrical double layer electric field, an anion-type solvation structure is established, which shortens the Zn<sup>2+</sup> desolvation path with accelerated kinetics and constructs a tough and tight interface with a gradient organic-inorganic configuration, eventually enabling uniform Zn deposition at low temperatures. As a result, Zn||Zn symmetric cells sustain for 7500 h at 1 mA·cm<sup>-2</sup> and over 1200 h with 34.2 % DOD at 10 mA·cm<sup>-2</sup> under -40°C. Pouch-cell properties are demonstrated by matching a PEDOT-V<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> cathode, which harvests a high capacity of 150 mAh over 210 cycles under practical conditions (N/P = 4.33 and E/C = 6.0 µL mg<sup>-1</sup>) and holds approaching 100 % capacity retention at -40°C. This work provides an effective strategy toward industrializing practical cold-resistant zinc-based batteries via modulating the electrolyte structure.
Authors
- Yanyan He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8891-9916)
- Zhengchunyu Zhang
- Yongfen Lv
- Baojuan J. Xi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5313-4497)
- Shenglin L. Xiong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8324-4160)
- Xinyue Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1968-2091)
- Bingchao Chen
- Zhujie Li
- Shaonan Gu
- Xiao Wang
Institutions
- Shandong University (CN)
- University of Jinan (CN)
- Shandong Management University (CN)
- Shandong Jiaotong University (CN)
- Shandong Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2026-01-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202522324
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Advanced battery technologies research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 21.93