A Bifunctional Nitrogen Doped Carbon Network as the Interlayer for Dendrite-Free Zn Anode

Aqueous rechargeable zinc metal batteries promise attractive advantages including safety, high energy density, and low cost. However, the uncontrollable dendrite growth and intricate side-reactions impede the practical application. Herein, we report a bifunctional nitrogen doped carbon network as interlayer (NCL) in cells to suppress the dendrite growth. In physical effect, NCL can balance the interfacial electrostatic field on Zn surface and guide Zn ions to deposit uniformly. In chemical effect, the nitrogen doped carbon active sites can reconstruct the typical solvation structure of [Zn(H2O)6]2+ to further promote the de-solvation process. Benefiting from the synergetic bifunctional interlayer both physically and chemically, dendrite and side-reactions are obviously restrained during repeated charge/discharge procedures. Finally, the Zn/Zn symmetric cell acquires a cycle life of over 4000 hours and persists for over 125 hours even at a depth of discharge (DOD) of 38%.