Modulation of zinc deposition behaviour by electrostatically spun PAN-ZnTFSI fibre layer on separator for aqueous zinc ion batteries

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) are well-suited for current energy storage technologies due to their high safety and low cost. However, battery failures resulting from dendrites and side reactions restrict their widespread application. Here, we designed a polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate (ZnTFSI) nanofibre synergistic glass fibre (PZ-GF) to modulate the interfacial deposition kinetics. The effective coordination of numerous CN functional groups within PZ, in conjunction with Zn 2+ , results in the homogeneous dispersion of the electric field across the electrode, which promotes the uniform deposition of Zn 2+ on the zinc anode and thus significantly inhibits the rapid growth of zinc dendrites. ZnTFSI is hydrophilic and has strong hydrogen bonding interactions with the H 2 O molecule so that the separator can be used as a molecular sieve to regulate the flux of H 2 O, promote the desolvation of hydrated zinc ions , and inhibit side reactions.Tests of the initial nucleation overpotential of the symmetric battery and calculation of the activation energy reflect that PZ-GF has a smaller nucleation energy barrier and enhanced kinetic effect. And the zinc symmetric battery with PZ-GF film shows an ultra-long cycle stability of 1200 cycles with a capacity retention of 75 % even at 0.5 A g −1 for the Zn//VO 2 full cells.