Aqueous Zn//V2O5 batteries (ZVBs) hold promise for large-scale energy storage due to their high safety and low cost, but face critical challenges of Zn dendrite growth and parasitic side reactions at the Zn anode, coupled with severe vanadium dissolution and shuttle at the V2O5 cathode. Conventional strategies, such as electrolyte engineering or separator modifications, often focus on single-component optimization, neglecting synergistic anode and cathode regulation. Herein, we developed a Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (ZSM-5) filled glass fiber separator (ZSM-5@GF) to address these issues simultaneously. The ZSM-5 zeolite facilitates the Zn2+ desolvation via binding H2O molecules, suppressing HER and side reactions. And it could also homogenize the ion concentration distribution for dendrite-free Zn plating/stripping. Concurrently, ZSM-5 zeolite could also immobilize dissolved vanadium species via electrostatic adsorption, mitigating cathode degradation and shuttle-induced capacity fading. Benefiting from the synergistic anode/cathode interface regulation, both electrodes dramatically extended their cycle life, and an Ah-level pouch-type Zn//V2O5 cell is also realized for continuous cycling. This bifunctional separator realizes synergistic stabilization of the Zn anode and V2O5 cathode, offering a cost-effective and scalable strategy for high-performance AZVBs toward practical applications.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.