Carbonized Polymer Dots as Electrolyte Additives to Inhibit Zinc Anode Corrosion and Enhance Full Cell Cycle Life

Abstract

Carbonized polymer dots(CPDs), as a new type of carbon-based nanomaterials, have been widely used in the fields of biosensing[1], light-emitting devices[2], and energy storage systems[3-4]due to their tunable photovoltaic properties and abundant surface functional groups. Especially in energy storage, it has good prospects and applications as an artificial negative electrode protective layer[5] for zinc-ion batteries(AZIBs). However, less research has been done on its use as an additive in zinc ion battery electrolyte[6]. We developed a method for the rapid synthesis of CPDs using citric acid as a substrate and urea as a nitrogen-doped additive using the microwave method at 1000W. The synthesized CPDs have graphitized carbon core centers as well as a wide range of peripheral functional groups. Due to the great potential of CPDs in the field of zinc ion batteries, we applied them as electrolyte additives in the electrolyte of aqueous zinc ion batteries, which can effectively inhibit the growth of dendrites on zinc anode, the precipitation of hydrogen and oxygen in the electrolyte, and at the same time, the corrosion current of the electrolyte on the anode is extremely low, which can greatly inhibit the corrosion of zinc anode in the electrolyte, and can effectively promote the rapid diffusion of zinc ions from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional, which can greatly improve the long-cycle stability of zinc ion battery, as well as the stability of the long-cycle stability of the zinc ion battery. It can also effectively promote the rapid diffusion of zinc ions from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, which greatly improves the long cycle stability of zinc ion battery and the cycle life of the whole battery. The zinc iodine battery has a stable cycle time of 43,000 cycles, a capacity retention rate of 90%, and a Coulombic efficiency of 100%.