An artificial β-PVDF nanofiber layer for dendrite-free zinc anode in rechargeable aqueous batteries

Owing to the merits of environmental friendliness and sustainability, aqueous zinc ion battery (AZIB) is considered as a promising energy storage system. Nevertheless, the further application of AZIB is largely limited by the growth of zinc dendrite and hydrogen evolution reaction of Zn anode. Here, a beta-polyvinylidene fluoride (beta-PVDF) nanofiber modified by 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium trifluoromethane sulfonate coating layer was prepared to tackle the problem of Zn anode. The artificial beta-PVDF can restrict HER and provide driving force to accelerate the migration of Zn2+ at electrolyte/Zn interface, which enables uniform and compact Zn deposition. And the symmetric cell with polymer-coating-layer-modified Zn anode demonstrates a long cycle for 1000 h at 2 mA cm(-2). Moreover, the artificial beta-PVDF nanofiber layer achieves a very low polarization voltage of about 50 mV even if the current density gradually increases to 10 mA cm(-2). Consequently, the beta-PVDF/BMI@Zn||MnO2 full cell reaches a high specific capacity of 186 mAh g(-1) after 1600 cycles at 1 A g(-1). This work provides a new possibility for the realization of high performance Zn anode.(GRAPHICS)