Dendrite-free zinc anodes via self-assembly of graphene nanoribbon for long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) are considered as one of the most promising aqueous energy storage devices due to their advantages of low cost, high capacity, and safety. However, a series of problems such as corrosion, hydrogen evolution, and dendrite of the zinc anode significantly hinder the application of AZIBs. In this work, graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are initiated as a novel functional interface layer via a facile self-assembly process based on the redox reaction of graphene oxide nanoribbons (GONRs) and Zn foil, which is found to be able to act as an ion buffer layer and guide Zn2+ to nucleate uniformly at the zinc anode, thus successfully prevents the formation of passivated by-products and reduces the occurrence of hydrogen evolution reaction and serious dendrite growth. As a result, GNRs@Zn exhibits lower nucleation overpotential (18.7 and 36.5 mV at 0.2 and 1 mA cm−2), higher reversibility (≈17 times higher than that of bare Zn), and dendrite-free durability compared to the original zinc in this synergy. In addition, GNRs@Zn anode exhibits excellent compatibility with the main cathodes of rechargeable AZIBs, such as ZnxV2O5 and MnO2 cathode, among which GNRs@Zn//ZnxV2O5 full battery delivers ultra-long cycle life of more than 9000 cycles with capacity retention of 105% at 5 A g−1, showing great prospect in practical application. This work provides a new idea for realizing high-performance rechargeable zinc-based battery systems.