Uniform zinc deposition on O,N-dual functionalized carbon cloth current collector

The society’s urgent demand for environmentally friendly, safe and low-cost energy storage devices has promoted the research of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. However, the uneven deposition of Zn ions on anodes will lead to the growth of the dendrite and reduce the Coulombic efficiency as well as the lifespan of the devices. Herein, we construct an O,N-dual functionalized carbon cloth current collector via a simple hydrothermal strategy, in which the oxygen-containing functional groups and the N heteroatoms can regulate the transmission and deposition of Zn ions, respectively. The proposed synergistic strategy ensures the uniform distribution of Zn ions on the surface of the Zn anode and inhibits the formation of dendrites. The symmetric cell based on the O,N-dual doped carbon cloth presents superior cycling stability (318 h) with a low voltage hysteresis (11.2 mV) at an areal capacity of 1 mAh cm−2 (20% depth of diacharge). Meanwhile, the appreciably low overpotential (16 mV) and high Columbic efficiency (98.2%) also demonstrate that the O,N-dual functionalized carbon cloth can be worked as a promising host for Zn ions deposition.