Carbonyl‐Modulated Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital Energy Directs Machine Learning‐Assisted Screening of Electrolyte Additives Toward Ultra‐Stable Zinc Metal Anodes

ABSTRACT The commercialization of aqueous zinc‐ion batteries has long been hindered by side reactions stemming from zinc anode interfacial instability. Organic molecular additives offer an effective solution. Here, using lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy and solubility as dual screening criteria, a novel high‐precision Organic Molecular Attention Prediction Graph Neural Network is developed to enable high‐throughput screening of organic additives. Through Shapley Additive exPlanations and density of states calculations, carbonyl electron localization is established as the dominant descriptor governing interfacial dynamics. α‐ketoglutaric acid (Ket) was selected as the optimal additive based on this principle. Strong coordination between its electronegative carbonyl groups enables the formation of a gradient‐structured solid‐electrolyte interphase on the Zn surface, resulting in uniform Zn 2+ flux distribution and significantly enhancing interfacial reversibility. Experimental demonstrates Zn||Cu cells achieve a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.93% over 3500 cycles, while Zn||Zn cells exhibit unprecedented longevity of 4550 h (187 days) at 5.0 mA·cm −2 with calendar life exceeding 7000 h, and maintain stability even at ultra‐high current densities of 30 mA·cm −2 . Full cells paired with high‐loading (∼10 mg cm −2 ) ammonium vanadate cathodes retain over 80% capacity after 600 cycles. This study establishes a closed‐loop framework of screening, providing a new pathway for metal battery systems.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2026-06-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73811
Primary Topic
Advanced battery technologies research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Carbonyl‐Modulated Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital Energy Directs Machine Learning‐Assisted Screening of Electrolyte Additives Toward Ultra‐Stable Zinc Metal Anodes

L L Zhang, Hongwei Cheng, Qiangchao Sun, Xijun Liu et al.
Advanced Materials
Advanced battery technologies research
article

Carbonyl‐Modulated Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital Energy Directs Machine Learning‐Assisted Screening of Electrolyte Additives Toward Ultra‐Stable Zinc Metal Anodes

L L Zhang, Hongwei Cheng, Qiangchao Sun, Xijun Liu, Shuyu Bi, Xionggang Lu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The commercialization of aqueous zinc‐ion batteries has long been hindered by side reactions stemming from zinc anode interfacial instability. Organic molecular additives offer an effective solution. Here, using lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy and solubility as dual screening criteria, a novel high‐precision Organic Molecular Attention Prediction Graph Neural Network is developed to enable high‐throughput screening of organic additives. Through Shapley Additive exPlanations and density of states calculations, carbonyl electron localization is established as the dominant descriptor governing interfacial dynamics. α‐ketoglutaric acid (Ket) was selected as the optimal additive based on this principle. Strong coordination between its electronegative carbonyl groups enables the formation of a gradient‐structured solid‐electrolyte interphase on the Zn surface, resulting in uniform Zn 2+ flux distribution and significantly enhancing interfacial reversibility. Experimental demonstrates Zn||Cu cells achieve a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.93% over 3500 cycles, while Zn||Zn cells exhibit unprecedented longevity of 4550 h (187 days) at 5.0 mA·cm −2 with calendar life exceeding 7000 h, and maintain stability even at ultra‐high current densities of 30 mA·cm −2 . Full cells paired with high‐loading (∼10 mg cm −2 ) ammonium vanadate cathodes retain over 80% capacity after 600 cycles. This study establishes a closed‐loop framework of screening, providing a new pathway for metal battery systems.

Advanced Materials
Shanghai University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Advanced battery technologies research
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.