3D fluorinated honeycomb cavity morphology through modulated crystal facet for dendrite-free aqueous zinc batteries

Abstract

The (0 0 2) facet dominated anode with fluorinated honeycomb cavities: this creative ZFG@Zn anode was prepared by simply HF etching. Based on related experimental results, dendrite-free ZFG@Zn anode exhibits excellent performance in aqueous zinc-ion batteries. • The topography and surface texture has been changed by HF etching with uniform honeycomb cavities and (0 0 2) dominated facet. • The deposited Zn fills the cavities, compact the surface and grow plannar with high exposure (0 0 2) during the whole process. • The dendrites and corrosion was suppressed during the cycling process owing to the special structure. • The ZFG@Zn exhibits a life more than 1600 h at 0.5 mA cm −2 , and a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.43 %. • The ZFG@Zn||MnO 2 battery delivers a capacity 190.1 mAh g −1 at 1 A g −1 with rentention of 98 % over 1000 cycles. The dendrite growth and corrosion inherently limit their potential for large-scale applications. Here, we developed an innovative strategy to overcome these challenges by engineering a 3D zinc anode with honeycomb cavities structures and a predominant (002) crystal plane through a precise HF etching process. This advanced anode (donated as ZFG@Zn), with its unique structure of honeycomb cavities and highly (002) facet ratio of I ( 0 0 2 ) /I (101) (13.40), facilitates uniform zinc ions flux and optimizes the electric field distribution, which effectively prevents dendrite frowth and corrosion, and realize (002) oriented deposition, thereby enhance the cycling stability of the batteries. As a result, the ZFG@Zn remains robust for at least 1600 h at 0.5 mA cm −2 /0.5 mAh cm −2 and 200 h at 5 mA cm −2 /5 mAh cm −2 , exhibits an impressive average Coulombic efficiency of 99.43 %. Moreover, Zn||MnO 2 full cells with ZFG@Zn achieve a capacity of 190.1 mAh g −1 at 1 A g −1 , retaining 98 % of this capacity after 1,000 cycles, compared to just 108.8 mAh g −1 and 14 % retention with bare Zn anodes. This innovative design not only enhances the performance of zinc anodes but also sets a new standard for durability and efficiency in zinc-ion batteries.