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Zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) have recently attracted tremendous interest for being low‐cost, environmentally benign, and high energy density. However, the large‐scale practical application of ZIBs is hampered by well‐known undesirable dendrite growth and serious side reactions of the Zn anode during the long‐term cycling process. Herein, a multifunctional water‐glass artificial protection layer with enormous Si─O functional groups is constructed on Zn anode through a simple spin‐coating method. The theoretical and experimental investigation suggests that the as‐constructed interface with rich Si─O hydrophilic functional groups on Zn anode could facilitate the even distribution of electric field distribution and homogeneous wettability, navigate uniform zinc deposition/stripping along the (002) plane, and subsequently lead to well‐suppressed dendrite growth and effective prohibition of oxygen‐involved corrosion. Consequently, the water glass‐modified anode achieves highly reversible Zn plating/stripping over 1500 h at a high current density of 10 mA cm−2 in symmetrical cells, and a high capacity retention ratio of 79.4% at the current density of 5 A g−1 in full cells paired with V2O5 cathode. This proposed water glass coating layer design is cheap, up‐scalable, and facile, which could substantially accelerate the rapid commercialization of zinc anodes and unleash the full potential of renewable ZIBs for next‐generation large‐scale energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excellent bifunctional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)/oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity and rapid mass transport capability are two important parameters of electrocatalysts for high‐performance rechargeable Zn–air batteries (ZABs). Herein, an efficient atomic modulation and structure design to promote bifunctional activity and mass transport kinetics of an ORR/OER electrocatalyst are reported. Specifically, atomic Fe−N4 moieties are immobilized on premade hollow carbon fibers with encapsulated Ni nanoparticles (Fe‐N@Ni‐HCFs). Synchrotron X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and spherical aberration‐corrected electron microscope analyses confirm the atomic distribution of the active sites and unique lung bubble‐like hollow architecture of the catalyst, while theoretical investigations reveal that the encapsulated Ni nanoparticles can induce electron distribution of the atomic Fe−N4 moieties to reduce reaction energy barriers. As a result, the prepared catalyst possesses enhanced bifunctional ORR/OER activity and well‐constructed gas–solid–liquid interfaces for improved mass transfer. These synergetic advantages endow the binder‐free Fe‐N@Ni‐HCFs electrode with the remarkable power density and cycling stability for ZABs, outperforming the commercial Pt/C+Ir/C benchmark. This exceptional performance suggests that the proposed strategy can be extended to the design and fabrication of electrocatalysts for energy conversion and storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offering ultrahigh energy density and exceptional safety, all‐solid‐state lithium–sulfur batteries (ASSLSBs) can be one of the most promising energy storage systems if their inherent challenges, including slow Li+ mass transport and insufficient sulfur utilization efficiency, are completely tackled. In this work, an amide‐based electrolyte additive with a high Gutmann donor number is used to construct a deep eutectic system, a “one‐stone‐two‐birds” solution to address these issues. In particular, an acetamide is used to interact with the insulative Li2S via a strong S─H bond and Li─O bond to boost the electrochemical reaction kinetics of lithium‐sulfur (Li─S) chemistry and sulfur utilization and simultaneously form a deep eutectic LiTFSI‐acetamide system to enhance ionic conductivity of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs). Such a seamless integration of this system into the solid‐state LSBs helps deliver a high initial discharge specific capacity of 1012 mAh g−1 at 0.05 C and attain a stable cyclability for 1300 cycles at 0.1 C. This remarkable achievement in high performance and stability can effectively facilitate the commercialization of ASSLSBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]