Improved electrochemical reversibility of Zn plating/stripping: a promising approach to suppress water-induced issues through the formation of H-bonding

Rechargeable aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) are emerging as impressive candidates for renewable energy storage, benefiting from their cost-effectiveness, environmental benignancy, and intrinsic safety. Unfortunately, the further development of aqueous ZIBs is plagued by the free water–induced parasitic reactions, including inevitable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and corrosion issues. Herein, with the aim to reduce the reactivity of solvent water, an effective strategy is proposed to construct the H-bonding with free water by adding an ether-based additive. It is found that the suppressed HER and zinc corrosion can be achieved through the participation of the H-bonding. Meanwhile, the electrode/electrolyte interface is tuned by increasing the wettability as well, which contributes to enlarge the effective area of electrode reaction. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the performance of ZIBs can be improved through enhancing the stability of Zn anode.