Metal

Oligomer

Engineering

Philosophy

Chemical physics

Polymer chemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Solvation

Modulation (music)

Capillary number

Stability (learning theory)

Capillary action

Solvent

Molecule

Computer science

Inorganic chemistry

Stripping (fiber)

Chemical engineering

Dissolution

Physical chemistry

Physics

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Aesthetics

Interface (matter)

Aqueous solution

Composite material

Chemistry

Electrode

Anode

Thermal stability

Electrolyte

Ethylene glycol

Machine learning

Energy storage materials

Stable cycling of Zn metal anodes under thermal extremes remains a grand challenge with the corresponding failure mechanisms largely unexplored. Here, we unravel the origin of thermal instability during Zn plating/stripping. The low temperature renders deteriorative dendrites growth, while a high temperature causes aggravating parasitic reactions. Zn metal/electrolyte interface and electrolyte solvation chemistry are then regulated via the introduction of oligomer poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether as a competitive-solvent into the aqueous electrolyte to circumvent these issues. Complementary experimental and theoretical studies demonstrate that the competitive-solvent shifts water-occupied interface into oligomer one through preferential Zn surface adsorption, enabling dendrite-free Zn morphologies. Furthermore, such solvent alters the electrolyte interaction by re-constructing oligomer/water hydrogen bonds and participating in the solvation sheath of Zn ions, which highly alleviates parasitic reactions. Consequently, Zn metal anodes deliver more than 1600 h Zn cyclic lifetime at all the tested temperatures of 0, 25 and 50 °C, over 10-fold enhancement than in pristine electrolytes. Application-wise, competitive-solvent suppresses the fast cathode dissolution because of highly reduced water activities and realizes the stable Zn/V2O5 full cells over a wide temperature range from -15 to 65 °C.

Realizing wide-temperature Zn metal anodes through concurrent interface stability regulation and solvation structure modulation