Impact of the Solid-Electrolyte Interface on Dendrite Formation: A Case Study Based on Zinc Metal Electrodes

The formation of dendrites is the bottleneck to harvest the high theoretical capacities of metal anodes. In this study, we investigated the impact of the solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on the electroplating of zinc metals in organic and aqueous electrolytes by using electrochemical techniques coupled with SEM, FTIR, and XPS. First, the electrochemical response of Zn plating in organic or aqueous electrolytes was compared with the ones for Li and Na metal plating by using analogous perchlorate salt dissolved in the same organic solvent. Under similar charge conditions, the cycle life of the metal electrodes was longer in the order of Zn (aqueous)>Li>Zn (organic)>Na. In organic electrolytes, the cycle life of the PAO-Zinc is almost three-fold longer than the as-received zinc electrodes. The methodology established here can be used to study the impact of electrolyte salt and additives on the formation of dendrites on metal electrodes.