Poloxamer Pre-solvation Sheath Ion Encapsulation Strategy for Zinc Anode-Electrolyte Interfaces

Aqueous metal-ion batteries are considered next-generation energy storage devices with improved safety. However, they suffer from sluggish kinetics and side reactions. This work presents a zinc-ion encapsulation strategy based on the poloxamer pre-solvation sheath for the realization of efficient zinc anode-electrolyte interfaces. The poloxamers can reversibly self-assemble into a pre-solvation sheath by electron-donating effect and effectively shield the ions from the surrounding water. This also lowers the activation energy of desolvation, endowing promoted transference and reaction kinetics. Accordingly, the Zn||Zn cell with the poloxamer electrolyte (Polo-ZnSO₄) achieved over 2000 h cycles at 5 mA cm^-2 and even over 500 h cycles at 10 mA cm^-2. The Zn||MnO₂ battery delivers a high and stable capacity of 240.9 mAh g^-1 after 1000 cycles at 1 A g^-1. This work paves the way for use of encapsulation chemistry for advanced aqueous metal batteries with high Coulombic efficiency and long lifetime.