Interface engineering with electrospun zincophilic-hydrophobic architecture for robust Zn metal anodes

Aqueous zinc (Zn) metal batteries are restricted due to Zn anodes facing notorious Zn dendrites and water-induced side reactions, which impede cycle performance. Herein, a zincophilic-hydrophobic interface layer is fabricated via an electrospinning method, where zincophilic silver (Ag) nanoparticles are evenly anchored in the hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride fiber matrix (Ag@PVDF), aiming to stabilize the Zn anode. The zincophilic nanoparticles can act as Zn nucleation sites and balance the interfacial electric field, ensuring a homogenous Zn deposition. Meanwhile, the hydrophobic fiber framework can prevent water-induced side reactions and modulate the Zn ion flux distribution. Consequently, the Ag@PVDF-Zn//Ag@PVDF-Zn symmetric cell delivers a superior lifespan over 2600 h (1.0 mA cm−2, 1.0 mAh cm−2). In addition, based on the stable Ag@PVDF-Zn anode, the Ag@PVDF-Zn//I2 full cell delivers 84.3 % capacity retention after 800 cycles at 2.0 C, and the aqueous Zn ion hybrid supercapacitor maintains a stable cycling performance over 15,000 cycles. This work highlights zincophilic-hydrophobic interface engineering to enable robust Zn anodes.