Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are considered the most promising electrochemical energy storage technologies due to their high safety and low cost. However, their practical application is hindered by persistent challenges at the Zn anode, including thermodynamic corrosion, hydrogen evolution, and dendrite growth in aqueous electrolytes. In this work, a nonionic molecule, n-octyl β-D-glucoside (8TG), is investigated as an additive for ZnSO₄ (ZS) electrolyte system. Experimental and theoretical calculations confirm that 8TG molecules tend to adsorb on the (001) plane of zinc hydroxide sulfate (ZHS), lowering its interfacial energy and thereby inducing lateral growth to form a dense protective layer. This layer exhibits an interlayer spacing of > 8 Å and is rich in anions, which can lower the energy barrier for ion transport through an electrostatic repulsion–attraction effect. Furthermore, 8TG preferentially adsorb on the Zn₍₀₀₂₎ and Zn₍₁₀₀₎ facets during zinc electrodeposition. Through a spatial confinement effect, it guides the preferential deposition of Zn²⁺ along the Zn₍₁₀₁₎ plane, effectively suppressing dendrite growth. Benefiting from these multifunctional effects of 8TG, Zn||Zn symmetric cells achieve a lifespan exceeding 2500 h at 2 mA·cm⁻² and 1 mAh·cm⁻², and maintain stable operation over 400 h even under 10 mA·cm⁻² and 5 mAh·cm⁻². Moreover, Zn||I₂/MnO₂@activated carbon (AC) full cells assembled with 8TG additive exhibit nearly 100% capacity retention after 500 cycles. This work systematically elucidates the influence of 8TG additive on the growth orientation of ZHS and Zn dendrites, providing new insights into exploring electrolyte additives for high-performance AZIBs.

Metal–N₂ battery can be applied in both energy storage and electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR); however, there has been only extraordinarily little study on metal–N₂ battery since its electrochemical reversibility still needs further proofs. And its electrochemical performances also need to be enhanced. Herein, we investigated the discharge–charge reactions between Li anode and N₂ cathode via designing an efficient catalyst of nanosized SnO₂ particles dispersed on N-doped carbon nanosheets (SnO₂@NC) for the Li-N₂ battery, with good cyclic stability and a high specific capacity of 0.25 mA h (~500 mA h g⁻¹) at a large current density of 1000 mA g⁻¹. The electrochemical reversibility of both NRR in the discharge process and nitrogen extraction reaction in the charge process for Li-N₂ battery is discussed. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry results imply that the SnO₂@NC can effectively promote the adsorption of N₂ and the activation of NRR in the discharge process. Furthermore, ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared tests are performed to study the electrochemical reversibility of Li-N₂ battery. It can be proved that the formation and decomposition of discharging product Li₃N are electrochemical reversible during cycling in our deigned Li-N₂ battery system with SnO₂@NC catalyst.

Silicon monoxide (SiO) has aroused increased attention as one of the most promising anodes for high-energy density Li-ion batteries. To enhance the initial Coulombic efficiencies (ICE) and cycle stability of SiO-based anodes, a new facile composition and electrode design strategy have been adapted to fabricate a SiO–Sn–Co/graphite (G) anode. It achieves a unique structure where tiny milled SiO–Sn–Co particles are dispersed among two graphite layers. In this hybrid electrode, Sn–Co alloys promoted Li⁺ extraction kinetics, and the holistic reversibility of SiO and graphite enhanced the electrical conductivity. The SiO–Sn–Co/G electrode delivered an average ICE of 77.6% and a reversible capacity of 640 mAh g⁻¹ at 800 mA g⁻¹, and the capacity retention was above 98% after 100 cycles, which was much higher than that of the SiO with an ICE of 55.3% and a capacity retention of 50%. These results indicated that this was reliable method to improve the reversibility and cycle ability of the SiO anode. Furthermore, based on its easy and feasible fabrication process, it may provide a suitable choice to combine other alloy anodes with the graphite anode.

Aqueous Zn-ion battery has emerged as one of the most prospective energy storage devices due to its low cost, high safety, and eco-friendliness. However, Zn-ion batteries are bottlenecked by significant capacity fading during long-term cycling and poor performance at high current rates. Here, we report an available cooperation of multivariate manganese oxides@carbon hybrids (MnO₂/MnO@C and MnO₂/Mn₃O₄@C) via a plasma-assisted design as an attractive Zn-ion cathode. Among them, the MnO₂/MnO@C cathode exhibits a reversible specific capacity of 165 mAh g⁻¹ over 200 cycles at a high rate of 0.5 A g⁻¹, and possesses great rate performance with high capacities of 110 and 100 mAh g⁻¹ at a high rate of 0.8 and 1 A g⁻¹, respectively. The good cathode performance significantly results from the facile charge transfer and ions (Zn²⁺ and H⁺) insertion in the manganese oxides/carbon hybrids featuring phase stability behavior in the available cooperation of multivalence and carbon conductive substrates. This work will promote the Zn-manganese dioxide system for the design of low-cost and high-performance aqueous rechargeable Zn-ion batteries.