Glycine composed anode-electrolyte interphase induced Zn(002) deposition for highly reversible zinc anode

By introducing 20 g L−1 glycine into 2.0 M ZnSO4 electrolyte, an anode-electrolyte interphase composed of glycine can be constructed. Such interphase effectively inhibits the H2O induced side reactions and promotes the final exposure of Zn(002) texture without dendrite growth during cycling. [Display omitted] •Glycine composed anode-electrolyte interphase inhibits H2O-induced side reactions.•Adsorbed glycine promotes the exposure of Zn(002) texture during cycling.•Zn||Zn symmetric cell exhibits a cycling of 1540 h at 20 mA cm−2, 1 mAh cm−2.•NH4V4O10||Zn full cell shows 81.89 % retention after 7000 cycles at 5 A g−1. The practical application of aqueous zinc ion batteries is restricted by dendrite growth and water-induced side reactions. Herein, a multifunctional anode-electrolyte interphase is constructed by introducing glycine electrolyte additive to solve the above problems simultaneously. Experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that, due to the strong charge transfer between the amino group and Zn atoms, glycine preferentially adsorbs on the surface of Zn anode, which effectively prevents the direct contact between H2O and anode surface, thus inhibiting water-induced side reactions. Importantly, glycine exhibits higher electron transfer efficiency on Zn(002) than Zn(100) and Zn(101), which promotes glycine to have the strongest adsorption energy on Zn(002) plane, thus optimizing the diffusion and nucleation behavior of Zn2+ and inducing the final exposure of Zn(002) texture. Consequently, the Zn||Zn symmetric cell exhibits an extended service life of 3100 h at 1.0 mA cm−2, 1.0 mAh cm−2, and 1554 h at a high current density of 20 mA cm−2. Moreover, Zn||NH4V4O10 full cell shows 81.89% capacity retention after 7000 cycles at 5.0 A g−1. Through a unique molecular adsorption strategy, this work provides a new approach combining the interface optimization and induction of crystal plane towards highly reversible Zn anode.