Imide-pillared covalent organic framework protective films as stable zinc ion-conducting interphases for dendrite-free Zn metal anodes

The notorious growth of zinc dendrite and the water -induced corrosion of zinc metal anodes (ZMAs) restrict the practical development of aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs). In this work, a zinc metallized, imide-pillared covalent organic framework (ZPC) protective film has been engineered as a stable Zn 2+ ion -conducting interphase to modulate interfacial kinetics and suppress side reactions for ZMAs. Compared to bare Zn, ZPC@Zn exhibits a higher Zn 2+ ionic conductivity, a larger Zn 2+ transference number, a lower electronic conductivity, a smaller desolvation activation energy and correspondingly a significant suppression of corrosion, hydrogen evolution and Zn dendrites. Impressively, the ZPC@Zn||ZPC@Zn symmetric cell obtains a cycling lifespan over 3000 h under 5 mA cm -2 for 1 mA h cm -2 . The ZPC@Zn|| NH 4 V 4 O 10 coin -type full battery delivers a specific capacity of 195.8 mA h g -1 with a retention rate of 78.5% at 2 A g -1 after 1100 cycles, and the ZPC@Zn||NH 4 V 4 O 10 pouch full cell shows a retention of 70.1% in reversible capacity at 3 A g -1 after 1100 cycles. The present incorporation of imide-linked covalent organic frameworks in the surface modification of ZMAs will offer fresh perspectives in the search for ideal protective films for the practicality of AZIBs. (c) 2024 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.