Nanoscale surface coating to enable stable and sendrite-free Zn anode for rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries

为了将可再生能源无缝集成到加拿大乃至全球的智能电网中，开发廉价、安全和对环境无害的电能存储(EES)技术势在必行。锂离子电池已被广泛应用于便携式设备和电动汽车，但存在与使用易燃有机电解液相关的高成本和固有的安全问题(起火和爆炸)。近年来，水基锌离子电池(ZIB)以其安全性高、成本低、环境友好、能量密度高等优点受到了人们的广泛关注。然而，目前的ZIB性能较差，部分原因是锌阳极上存在锌树枝晶问题。锌枝晶是电池循环过程中形成的针状结构，会导致电池效率和容量较低，并刺穿隔板导致短路。在这个项目中，不列颠哥伦比亚大学刘健博士的团队与MGX Minerals Inc.合作，旨在通过使用先进的原子层沉积(ALD)技术实现的纳米级和多功能表面涂层来解决锌树枝晶问题。所提出的纳米涂层有望调节锌的形核和生长，防止锌枝晶的生长，并缓解锌负极与电解液之间的副反应，从而提高锌离子电池的整体性能。工业部将利用该项目开发的新型锌阳极实现ZIB的原型和规模化生产，并走向商业化。这项新电池技术的部署不仅将为当地带来经济效益，还将有助于增加可再生能源的广泛采用，减少对碳密集型燃料的依赖，改善加拿大人的生活环境，并为向更绿色、更清洁的社会过渡做出贡献。

Development of inexpensive, safe, and environmentally benign electrical energy storage (EES) technologies is imperative to seamlessly integrate renewable energy into the smart grid in Canada and globally. Lithium-ion batteries have been widely used in portable devices and electric vehicles, but suffer from high cost and inherent safety issues (fires and explosion) associated with the use of flammable organic elecrolytes. Recently, aqueous-based zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted great attention as a promising EES technology, due to the high safety, low cost, environmental friendliness, and relatively high energy density. However, current ZIBs have poor performance partially due to Zn dendrite problem on Zn anode. Zn dendrites are needle-like structure formed during battery cycling that can lead to low efficiency and battery capacity, and pierce the separator to cause short circuit. In this project, Dr. Jian Liu's group at University of British Columbia, in collaboration with MGX Minerals Inc., aims to tackle the Zn dendrite problem by using nanoscale and multifunctional surface coating enabled by advanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The proposed nanoscale coating is expected to regulate Zn nucleation and growth, prevent Zn dendrite growth, and alleviate side reactions between Zn anode and electrolytes, therefore improving the overall performance of Zn-ion batteries. The industrial parter will prototype and scale up the manufacuting of ZIBs with the new Zn anodes developed in this project towards commercialization. Deployment of this new battery technology will not only lead to local economic benifits, but also help increase the wide-range adoption of renewable energy, reduce dependence on carbon-intensive fuels, improve the living environment of Canadians, and contribute to the transition to a greener and cleaner society.