Artificial Hydrophilic Organic and Dendrite-Suppressed Inorganic Hybrid Solid Electrolyte Interface Layer for Highly Stable Zinc Anodes

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have gained significant attentions for their inherent safety and cost-effectiveness. However, challenges, such as dendrite growth and anodic corrosion at the Zn anode, hinder their commercial viability. In this paper, an organic–inorganic coating layer (Nafion–TiO2) was introduced to protect the Zn anode and electrolyte interface. Briefly, Nafion effectively shields against the corrosion from water molecules through the hydrophobic wall of −CF3 and guided zinc deposition from the −SO3 functional group, while TiO2 particles with a higher Young’s modulus (151 GPa vs 120 GPa from Zn metal) suppress the zinc dendrite formation. As a result, with the protection of Nafion–TiO2, the symmetrical Zn∥Zn battery shows an improved cycle life of 1,750 h at 0.5 mA cm–2, and the full cell based on Zn∥MnO2 shows a long cycle life over 1,500 cycles at 1 A g–1. Our research offers a novel approach for protecting zinc metal anodes, potentially applicable to other metal anodes such as those in lithium and sodium batteries.