@article{Gao2026, 
author = {Zixuan Gao and Dongdong Zhang and Shuai Zhang and Xiang Wu and Jiaqian Qin and Jin Cao},
title = {Amphiphilic self-assembly chemistry for dual-interface water regulation in long-life aqueous zinc-vanadium batteries},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research Energy},
volume = {5},
pages = {e9120252},
keywords = {zinc dendrites, vanadium dissolution, amphiphilic terpineol, electrolyte additive, interfacial water regulation},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NRE.2026.9120252},
doi = {10.26599/NRE.2026.9120252},
abstract = {Aqueous zinc-vanadium batteries (AZVBs) are severely limited by interfacial water-induced failure mechanisms, where uncontrolled water activity simultaneously triggers zinc dendrite growth at the anode and vanadium dissolution at the cathode. Existing strategies predominantly focus on stabilizing a single electrode interface, while the synchronized regulation of dual-electrode interfacial chemistry remains fundamentally challenging. Here, we report an amphiphilic molecular engineering strategy that enables interfacial water redistribution across both electrode interfaces using terpineol (TER) as a bifunctional electrolyte regulator. Owing to its hydrophilic-hydrophobic architecture, TER spontaneously constructs a self-assembled interfacial layer that simultaneously reconstructs Zn2+ solvation environments, disrupts hydrogen-bonded water networks, and repels reactive interfacial water from both zinc and vanadium surfaces. This dual-interface regulation homogenizes Zn2+ flux, suppresses hydrogen evolution and dendrite propagation, while concurrently inhibiting hydration-driven vanadium dissolution and cathode structural degradation. Consequently, the TER-regulated system achieves highly reversible Zn plating/stripping for over 4000 h at 1 mA·cm−2 and enables Zn||NH4V4O10 (NVO) full cells with 99.65% capacity retention after 800 cycles at 5 A·g−1. More importantly, this work establishes an amphiphilic interfacial water regulation paradigm that synchronizes anode and cathode stabilization through one-molecule chemistry, offering a generalizable route toward durable aqueous multielectrode energy-storage systems.}
}