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Research Article Issue
Suppressing interfacial side reactions of zinc metal anode via isolation effect toward high-performance aqueous zinc-ion batteries
Nano Research 2023, 16 (5): 6789-6797
Published: 29 December 2022
Downloads:50

Aqueous zinc (Zn)-ion batteries (AZIBs) are one of the most promising large-scale energy storage devices because of the excellent features of zinc metal anodes, including high theoretical capacity (5,855 mAh·cm–3 and 820 mAh·g−1), high safety, and natural abundance. Nevertheless, the large-scale applications of AZIBs are mainly limited by the severe interfacial side reactions of zinc metal anodes, which results in low plating/stripping Coulombic efficiency and poor cycling stability. To address this issue, we report an artificial Ta2O5 protective layer on zinc foil (Ta2O5@Zn) for suppressing side reactions during Zn deposition/stripping. The results of density functional theory calculation and experiments indicate that Ta2O5@Zn anode can inhibit the side reactions between the electrolyte and zinc anode through the isolation effect. Benefiting from this advantage, the symmetric cells with Ta2O5@Zn anode delivered an ultralong lifespan of 3,000 h with a low overpotential at 0.25 mA·cm−2 for 0.05 mAh·cm−2. Furthermore, the full cells consisting of Ta2O5@Zn anode and MnO2 or NH4V4O10 cathode all present outstanding electrochemical performance, indicating its high reliability in practical applications. This strategy brings new opportunities for the future development of rechargeable AZIBs.

Review Article Issue
Shining light on transition metal tungstate-based nanomaterials for electrochemical applications: Structures, progress, and perspectives
Nano Research 2022, 15 (8): 6924-6960
Published: 25 June 2022
Downloads:419

Transition metal tungstate-based nanomaterials have become one of the research hotspots in electrochemistry due to their abundant natural resources, low costs, and environmental friendliness. Extensive studies have demonstrated their significant potentials for electrochemical applications, such as supercapacitors, Li-ion batteries, Na-ion batteries, electrochemical sensing, and electrocatalysis. Considering the rapidly growing research enthusiasm for this topic over the last several years, herein, a critical review of recent progress on the application of transition metal tungstates and their composites for electrochemical applications is summarized. The relationships between synthetic methods, nano/micro structures and electrochemical properties are systematically discussed. Finally, their promising prospects for future development are also proposed. It is anticipated that this review will inspire ongoing interest in rational designing and fabricating novel transition metal tungstate-based nanomaterials for high-performance electrochemical devices.

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