Aqueous zinc battery promotes great interest due to its high safety and significant energy density. However, the Zn anode shows severity of dendrite growth and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Addressing these challenges requires effective manipulation of the inner Helmholtz plane (IHP). Thereby, we secure a novel strategy for generating water-locking IHP through the in-situ growth of a hygroscopic Zn-ethanolamine (Zn-EA) protective layer on the Zn surface. This layer forms via coordination between ZnCl2 salt and ethanolamine, effectively reducing the intermediate/free water. Moreover, ethanolamine contains zincophilic sites (C–O and –NH2) further promote the uniform Zn deposition. The in-situ Raman confirms the ability of the hygroscopic layer to lock the active water away from the Zn surface. Therefore, Zn-EA@Zn anode exhibits an impressive life stability of 288 h at 20 mA cm−2 and 20 mAh cm−2 with an extended lifespan of 2100 h at 1 mA cm−2 and 1 mAh cm−2. Furthermore, the Zn-EA@Zn||Cu demonstrates 100% Coulombic efficiency over 4275 cycles, while Zn-EA@Zn ||V2O3/NC full cell retains a specific capacity of 170 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1 after 1000 cycles, and the pouch cell maintains 0.5 mAh cm−2 after 460 cycles at 2 mA cm−2. Therefore, this approach is paving the way for the development of advanced zinc metal batteries.
| [1] |
N. Yang, Y. Gao, F. Bu, Q. Cao, J. Yang, J. Cui, Y. Wang, J. Chen, X. Liu, C. Guan, Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2312934.
|
| [2] |
K. Hua, Q. Ma, Y. Liu, P. Xiong, R. Wang, L. Yuan, J. Hao, L. Zhang, C. Zhang, ACS Nano 2025, 19, 14249.
|
| [3] |
K. Hua, L. Zhang, Q. Ma, H. Li, R. Wang, P. Xiong, S. Zhang, T. Zhou, Y. Liu, C. Zhang, Chem. Eng. J. 2024, 498, 155289.
|
| [4] |
K. Wang, Y. Luo, H. Zhan, X.-X. Liu, X. Sun, ACS Nano 2024, 18, 27672.
|
| [5] |
M. Liu, Y. Wang, Y. Li, F. Wu, H. Li, Y. Li, X. Feng, B. Long, Q. Ni, C. Wu, Y. Bai, Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2406145.
|
| [6] |
K. Fu, T. Liu, M. Xie, Y. Wu, Z. Li, Y. Xin, Y. Liao, C. Liu, H. Huang, D. Ma, F. Zeng, X. Liang, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2407895.
|
| [7] |
X. Tian, Q. Zhao, M. Zhou, X. Huang, Y. Sun, X. Duan, L. Zhang, H. Li, D. Su, B. Jia, T. Ma, Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2400237.
|
| [8] |
Y. Gao, N. Yang, F. Bu, Q. Cao, J. Pu, Y. Wang, T. Meng, J. Chen, W. Zhao, C. Guan, Energy Environ. Sci. 2024, 17, 1894.
|
| [9] |
H. Tian, J.-L. Yang, Y. Deng, W. Tang, R. Liu, C. Xu, P. Han, H. J. Fan, Adv. Energy Mater. 2023, 13, 2202603.
|
| [10] |
H. Wu, H.-T. Yin, J.-L. Yang, R. Liu, Adv. Energy Mater. 2025, 15, 2501359.
|
| [11] |
H. Wu, H. Tian, H.-T. Yin, J.-L. Yang, R. Liu, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025,
|
| [12] |
S. Lv, M. Su, Z. Li, Y. Mao, J. Yin, D. cao, G. Wang, J. Yi, F. Ning, K. Zhu, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2315910.
|
| [13] |
S. Liu, Q. Han, C. He, Z. Xu, P. Huang, L. Cai, H. Chen, H. Zheng, Y. Zhou, M. Wang, H. Tian, W.-Q. Han, H. Ying, ACS Nano 2024, 18, 25880.
|
| [14] |
Y. Xie, J. Huang, T. Kong, X. Zhou, K. Wu, X. Liu, J. Yi, L. Xing, Y. Xia, Energy Storage Mater 2023, 56, 218.
|
| [15] |
L. Liu, Y. Liu, L. Zhang, R. Wang, Q. Ma, P. Xiong, C. Zhang, Energy Fuel 2024, 38, 15998.
|
| [16] |
C. Dong, H. Ji, T. Yang, H. Wu, C. Liu, X. Xie, O. Sheng, D. Yang, T. Shen, Z. Sun, J. Zhang, R. Zheng, C. Zhang, X. Zhang, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025,
|
| [17] |
F. Duan, X. Yin, J. Ba, J. Li, Y. Yu, C. Wang, Y. Wei, Y. Wang, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2310342.
|
| [18] |
B. Wei, J. Zheng, Abhishek, X. Liu, J. Wu, Z. Qi, Z. Hou, R. Wang, J. Ma, A. N. Gandi, Z. Wang, H. Liang, Adv. Energy Mater. 2024, 14, 2401018.
|
| [19] |
Y. Song, Y. Liu, S. Luo, Y. Yang, F. Chen, M. Wang, L. Guo, S. Chen, Z. Wei, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2316070.
|
| [20] |
D. K. Nandakumar, S. K. Ravi, Y. Zhang, N. Guo, C. Zhang, S. C. Tan, Energy Environ. Sci. 2018, 11, 2179.
|
| [21] |
J. Yang, X. Zhang, H. Qu, Z. G. Yu, Y. Zhang, T. J. Eey, Y.-W. Zhang, S. C. Tan, Adv. Mater. 2020, 32, 2002936.
|
| [22] |
H. Lin, Y. Yang, Y.-C. Hsu, J. Zhang, C. Welton, I. Afolabi, M. Loo, H.-C. Zhou, Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2209073.
|
| [23] |
X. Yang, Z. Chen, C. Xiang, H. Shan, R. Wang, Nat. Commun. 2024, 15, 7678.
|
| [24] |
H. Lu, W. Shi, J. H. Zhang, A. C. Chen, W. Guan, C. Lei, J. R. Greer, S. V. Boriskina, G. Yu, Adv. Mater. 2022, 34, 2205344.
|
| [25] |
H. Shan, P. Poredoš, Z. Chen, X. Yang, Z. Ye, Z. Hu, R. Wang, S. C. Tan, Nat. Rev. Mater. 2024, 9, 699.
|
| [26] |
Z. Huang, T. Zhang, A. Ju, Z. Xu, Y. Zhao, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2024, 16, 16893.
|
| [27] |
Y. Wang, X. Mu, J. Zhou, L. Song, X. Li, F. He, X. Wang, L. Miao, Adv. Energy Sustain. Res. 2024, 5, 2400047.
|
| [28] |
H. Shan, P. Poredoš, H. Qu, X. Yang, M. Zhou, L. Bai, J. Shi, W. Chen, R. Wang, S. C. Tan, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2402839.
|
| [29] |
J. Ding, J. He, L. Chen, Y. Sun, Y. Xu, L.-P. Lv, Y. Wang, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64, e202416271.
|
| [30] |
Z. Yu, X. Wang, X. He, R. Li, A. Zhang, J. Zhang, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2024, 16, 69187.
|
| [31] |
Y. Xin, J. Qi, H. Xie, Y. Ge, Z. Wang, F. Zhang, B. He, S. Wang, H. Tian, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2403222.
|
| [32] |
H. J. Kim, S. Kim, S. Kim, S. Kim, K. Heo, J.-H. Lim, H. Yashiro, H.-J. Shin, H.-G. Jung, Y. M. Lee, S.-T. Myung, Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2308592.
|
| [33] |
A. M. Lyons, M. J. Vasile, E. M. Pearce, J. V. Waszczak, Macromolecules 1988, 21, 3125.
|
| [34] |
M. Cîrcu, A. Nan, G. Borodi, J. Liebscher, R. Turcu, Nano 2016, 6, 228.
|
| [35] |
Y. Wang, Z. Jiang, Q. Yang, Q. He, A. Q. Zarifzoda, F. Chen, J. Alloys Compd. 2025, 1010, 177192.
|
| [36] |
J. Yang, X. Zhang, J. J. Koh, R. Deng, S. Kumarasamy, Y. X. Xu, H. Qu, S. Zhang, Y. Zhang, S. C. Tan, Small 2022, 18, 2107636.
|
| [37] |
X. Zhang, L. Huang, Y. Han, M. Xu, S. Dong, Nanoscale 2017, 9, 5583.
|
| [38] |
P. He, J. Huang, ACS Energy Lett. 2021, 6, 1990.
|
| [39] |
J. Li, K. Le, W. Wei, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 2022, 102, 272.
|
| [40] |
J. Zhang, J. Sun, D. Yang, S. Ha, T. Ma, H. Liu, X. Shi, D. Guo, Y. Wang, Y. Wei, Nano Lett. 2024, 24, 688.
|
| [41] |
C.-L. Tseng, Y.-K. Chen, S.-H. Wang, Z.-W. Peng, J.-L. Lin, J. Phys. Chem. C 2010, 114, 11835.
|
| [42] |
R. Karunakaran, R. Shanmugasundaram, Discov. Mater. 2025, 5, 18.
|
| [43] |
C.-Y. Li, J.-B. Le, Y.-H. Wang, S. Chen, Z.-L. Yang, J.-F. Li, J. Cheng, Z.-Q. Tian, Nat. Mater. 2019, 18, 697.
|
| [44] |
C.-Y. Li, M. Chen, S. Liu, X. Lu, J. Meng, J. Yan, H. D. Abruña, G. Feng, T. Lian, Nat. Commun. 2022, 13, 5330.
|
| [45] |
X. You, D. Zhang, X.-G. Zhang, X. Li, J.-H. Tian, Y.-H. Wang, J.-F. Li, Nano Lett. 2023, 16, 53.
|
| [46] |
X. Xie, S. Liang, J. Gao, S. Guo, J. Guo, C. Wang, G. Xu, X. Wu, G. Chen, J. Zhou, Energy Environ. Sci. 2020, 13, 503.
|
| [47] |
H. Dong, X. Hu, R. Liu, M. Ouyang, H. He, T. Wang, X. Gao, Y. Dai, W. Zhang, Y. Liu, Y. Zhou, D. J. L. Brett, I. P. Parkin, P. R. Shearing, G. He, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202311268.
|
| [48] |
G. Gao, X. Huo, B. Li, J. Bi, Z. Zhou, Z. Du, W. Ai, W. Huang, Energy Environ. Sci. 2024, 17, 7850.
|
| [49] |
K. Yan, Y. Fan, F. Hu, G. Li, X. Yang, X. Wang, X. Li, C. Peng, W. Wang, H. Fan, L. Ma, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2307740.
|
| [50] |
A. Clarisza, H. K. Bezabh, S.-K. Jiang, C.-J. Huang, B. W. Olbasa, S.-H. Wu, W.-N. Su, B. J. Hwang, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 14, 36644.
|
| [51] |
Y. Zhu, J. Yin, X. Zheng, A.-H. Emwas, Y. Lei, O. F. Mohammed, Y. Cui, H. N. Alshareef, Energy Environ. Sci. 2021, 14, 4463.
|
| [52] |
R. Wang, M. Yao, M. Yang, J. Zhu, J. Chen, Z. Niu, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2023, 120, e2221980120.
|
| [53] |
L. Wang, S. Yan, C. D. Quilty, J. Kuang, M. R. Dunkin, S. N. Ehrlich, L. Ma, K. J. Takeuchi, E. S. Takeuchi, A. C. Marschilok, Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 8, 2002080.
|
| [54] |
M. Luo, C. Wang, H. Lu, Y. Lu, B. B. Xu, W. Sun, H. Pan, M. Yan, Y. Jiang, Energy Storage Mater 2021, 41, 515.
|
| [55] |
R. Zhang, T. Shui, A. Li, H. Xia, G. Xu, L. Ji, C. Lu, W. Zhang, Z. Sun, Energy Environ. Sci. 2025, 18, 1011.
|
| [56] |
J. Wang, J. Peng, W. Huang, H. Liang, Y. Hao, J. Li, H. Chu, H. Wei, Y. Zhang, J. Liu, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2316083.
|
| [57] |
G. Liu, S. Zhang, Y. Peng, M. Yu, L. Zhao, J. Zhang, Y. Meng, F. Ran, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 2025, 678, 159.
|
| [58] |
H. Li, Y. Li, M. Liu, Z. Yang, Y. Gong, J. Qian, R. Zhang, Y. Bai, F. Wu, C. Wu, Energy Environ. Sci. 2025, 18, 2973.
|
| [59] |
R. Guo, X. Liu, K. Ni, F. Xia, H. Zhang, Y. Liu, X. Dai, L. Shi, X. Wang, C. Han, L. Mai, C. Niu, Energy Environ. Sci. 2025, 18, 2353.
|
| [60] |
Y. Wang, Q. Li, H. Hong, S. Yang, R. Zhang, X. Wang, X. Jin, B. Xiong, S. Bai, C. Zhi, Nat. Commun. 2023, 14, 3890.
|
| [61] |
J. Gu, Y. Tao, H. Chen, Z. Cao, Y. Zhang, Z. Du, Y. Cui, S. Yang, Adv. Energy Mater. 2022, 12, 2200115.
|
| [62] |
Z. Liu, X. Zhang, Z. Liu, Y. Jiang, D. Wu, Y. Huang, Z. Hu, Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 7010.
|
| [63] |
N. A. Thieu, W. Li, X. Chen, S. Hu, H. Tian, H. N. N. Tran, W. Li, D. M. Reed, X. Li, X. Liu, Batteries 2023, 9, 41.
|
| [64] |
Y. Wang, F. Cheng, J. Ji, C. Cai, Y. Fu, Carbon Energy 2024, 6, e520.
|
| [65] |
H. Tang, N. Hu, L. Ma, H. Weng, D. Huang, J. Zhu, H. Yang, Z. Chen, X. Yin, J. Xu, H. He, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2402484.
|
| [66] |
Y.-M. Li, W.-H. Li, X.-Y. Zhang, Y.-Z. Tang, Z.-M. Liu, J.-P. Zhang, X.-L. Wu, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, 35, 2420446.
|
| [67] |
B. Hao, J. Zhou, H. Yang, C. Zhu, Z. Wang, J. Liu, C. Yan, T. Qian, Nat. Commun. 2024, 15, 9465.
|
| [68] |
Z. Wang, D. Zhou, Z. Zhou, W. Gong, S. Zhao, Y. Ling, F. Liu, J. Guo, K. Zhao, J. Wu, P. Xue, C. Li, Y. Sun, J. Luo, Z. Wang, J. Xu, L. Wei, Q. Zhang, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2313371.
|
| [69] |
H. Bian, C. Wang, Y. Wang, Y. Ren, Y. Ge, H. Wu, B. Wang, D. Chen, B. Yang, D. Bin, Y. Li, J. Gu, Y. Ma, S. Tang, X. Meng, H. Lu, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2401760.
|
| [70] |
K. Wang, T. Qiu, L. Lin, H. Zhan, X.-X. Liu, X. Sun, ACS Energy Lett. 2024, 9, 1000.
|
| [71] |
W. Guo, L. Xu, Y. Su, Z. Tian, C. Qiao, Y. Zou, Z. Chen, X. Yang, T. Cheng, J. Sun, ACS Nano 2024, 18, 10642.
|
| [72] |
H. Liu, Z. Xu, B. Cao, Z. Xin, H. Lai, S. Gao, B. Xu, J.-L. Yang, T. Xiao, B. Zhang, H. J. Fan, Adv. Energy Mater. 2024, 14, 2400318.
|
| [73] |
F. Zhao, J. Feng, H. Dong, R. Chen, T. Munshi, I. Scowen, S. Guan, Y.-E. Miao, T. Liu, I. P. Parkin, G. He, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 34, 2409400.
|
| [74] |
J. Li, Z. Guo, J. Wu, Z. Zheng, Z. Yu, F. She, L. Lai, H. Li, Y. Chen, L. Wei, Adv. Energy Mater. 2023, 13, 2301743.
|
| [75] |
Z. Zheng, X. Zhong, Q. Zhang, M. Zhang, L. Dai, X. Xiao, J. Xu, M. Jiao, B. Wang, H. Li, Y. Jia, R. Mao, G. Zhou, Nat. Commun. 2024, 15, 753.
|
| [76] |
D. Wang, D. Lv, H. Liu, S. Zhang, C. Wang, C. Wang, J. Yang, Y. Qian, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202212839.
|
| [77] |
J. Meng, G. Jia, H. Yang, M. Wang, Front. Chem. 2022, 10, 102022.
|
| [78] |
A. Desrues, E. De Vito, F. Boismain, J. P. Alper, C. Haon, N. Herlin-Boime, S. Franger, Materials 2022, 15, 7990.
|
| [79] |
C. Zhuang, S. Zhang, Z. G. Yu, J. Yang, Y. Sun, H. Wen, H. Wen, H. Li, B. Yin, T. Ma, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, 35, 2419351.
|
| [80] |
T. Wang, Y. Wang, P. Cui, H. Geng, Y. Wu, F. Hu, J. You, K. Zhu, Energy Environ. Sci. 2025, 18, 2546.
|
| [81] |
F. Li, W. Luo, H. Fu, W. Zhou, C. Gao, Y. Liu, H. Xia, Z. Shi, H. Wang, J. Zhou, B. Lu, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, 35, 2416668.
|
| [82] |
H. Yin, H. Wu, Y. Yang, S. Yao, P. Han, Y. Shi, R. Liu, Small 2024, 20, 2404367.
|
| [83] |
H. Wu, H. Yin, H. Tian, J. Yang, R. Liu, Energy Environ. Mater. 2025, 8, e12839.
|
| [84] |
C. Wei, Y. Zhou, X. Wang, H. Qi, X. Li, T. Zou, W. Wang, Z. Yang, Y. Yu, Mater. Today Phys. 2024, 41, 101356.
|
| [85] |
X. Tian, Y. Sun, H. Li, X. Duan, Q. Zhao, T. Ma, Adv. Energy Mater. 2025, 15, 2403995.
|
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
2025 The Author(s). Energy & Environmental Materials published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Zhengzhou University.
PDF
(3777KB)
