Two-Dimensional Organic-Inorganic Heterostructure as a Multifunctional Protective Layer for High Performance Zinc Metal Anode

Dendrite growth and side reactions of Zn metal anodes remain unresolved obstacles for practical application of aqueous Zn ion batteries. Herein, a two-dimensional (2D) organic-inorganic heterostructure with controlled thickness was constructed as a protective layer for a Zn metal anode. The reduction of uniformly distributed polyoxometalate in the layer causes a negative charge density gradient, which can accelerate zinc ion transfer, homogenize zinc deposition, and shield sulfates at the electrode interface, while the exposed hydrophobic alkyl chain of the layer can isolate the direct contact of water with the Zn anode. As a result of the synergetic effect, this 2D organic-inorganic heterostructure enables high Zn plating/stripping reversibility, with high average Coulombic efficiencies of 99.97% for 3700 cycles at 2 mA cm^-2. Under high Zn utilization conditions, a high areal-capacity full cell with hundreds of cycles was demonstrated.