Scientists design "hydrophobic-zincophilic" interface to unlock ultra-stable zinc-ion batteries
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Jun-2026 09:16 ET (8-Jun-2026 13:16 GMT/UTC)
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as promising candidates for large-scale energy storage systems in the post-lithium era, owing to their inherent safety and cost-effectiveness. However, their practical implementation faces significant challenges, including chemical corrosion, uncontrolled dendrite formation, and hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). To address these limitations, an innovative “hydrophobic-zincophilic” Pd/g-C3N4 composite coating was developed for Zn anodes by atomic-layer-deposition (ALD). The g-C3N4 matrix serves as an ion flux regulator, while uniformly dispersed Pd nanoparticles function as zincophilic nucleation sites, enabling homogeneous Zn deposition. In situ optical characterization demonstrates the coating’s dual functionality: the hydrophobic component effectively minimizes water contact, while the zincophilic phase guides ordered Zn plating, jointly suppressing parasitic reactions. The modified Pd/g-C3N4@Zn anode achieves exceptional cycling stability (> 2500 h) and maintains a remarkable Coulombic efficiency of 99.56% over 5000 cycles at 2 A/g, representing a significant advancement in AZIB anode engineering. This work provides a generalizable interfacial design strategy for developing high-performance AZIB systems.
Efficient overall water splitting (OWS) technology has been highly demanded across the world, of which the key is the development of active and stable electrocatalysts for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER/OER). Herein, novel crystalline Ni3S2 nanorods tuned by low-crystalline NiCoSx (NiCoSx@Ni3S2) are synthesized via an ion-exchange strategy. The built-in electric field at the heterogeneous interface driven by work function difference, facilitates rapid electron transfer from Ni3S2 to NiCoSx via a robust Ni–S–Co bond bridge. This synergistic combination of the conductive crystalline core and low-crystalline shell optimizes the d-band center, balancing intermediate adsorption/desorption, speeding up water dissociation, enhancing hydrogen adsorption/desorption for HER, and lowering the energy barrier for OER, ultimately boosting OWS efficiency. The defect-rich, low-crystalline NiCoSx shell, bonded to the crystalline core via Ni–S–Co bonds, serves as a protective armor, enabling dynamic reconstruction into NiCoOOH and suppresses sulfide leaching, ensuring catalytic stability. The optimized NiCoSx@Ni3S2 achieves low HER/OER overpotentials of 346/520 mV@1000 mA cm−2, evidenced by an ultralow cell voltage of 2.10 V@1000 mA cm−2 for OWS and long-term durability up to 400 h. The work paves a novel way to fabricate sulfur-based electrocatalysts with high yet balanced activity and stability for OWS via an interface engineering strategy.
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