Modulating Cation Migration and Deposition with Xylitol Additive and Oriented Reconstruction of Hydrogen Bonds for Stable Zinc Anodes

Highly reversible plating/stripping in aqueous electrolytes is one of the critical processes determining the performance of Zn-ion batteries, but it is severely impeded by the parasitic side reaction and dendrite growth. Herein, a novel electrolyte engineering strategy is first proposed based on the usage of 100 mM xylitol additive, which inhibits hydrogen evolution reaction and accelerates cations migration by expelling active H₂ O molecules and weakening electrostatic interaction through oriented reconstruction of hydrogen bonds. Concomitantly, xylitol molecules are preferentially adsorbed by Zn surface, which provides a shielding buffer layer to retard the sedimentation and suppress the planar diffusion of Zn²⁺ ions. Zn²⁺ transference number and cycling lifespan of Zn∥Zn cells have been significantly elevated, overwhelmingly larger than bare ZnSO₄ . The cell coupled with a NaV₃ O₈ cathode still behaves much better than the additive-free device in terms of capacity retention.