Fabrication of a Robust Zinc Powder Anode via Facile Integration of Copper Nanopowder as a Functional Conductive Medium

Zinc powder is the key anode material for the commercialization of aqueous Zn ion batteries (AZIBs), taking advantage of its cost-effectiveness and ease of processing. However, they face challenges such as severe dendrite growth, side reactions, and corrosion due to the rough surface with high specific area. This paper proposes a low-cost, simple, and scalable method to modify Zn powder-based anodes by incorporating nano-Copper (NC) powder as a functional conductive agent, and the modified Zn powder electrode is denoted as ZP-NC. This NC powder modification enhances the electronic conductivity, lowers the charge transfer activation energy, and provides an even electric field for uniform Zn deposition. It further alleviates the electrochemical corrosion during storage and cycling. Thus, the rate capability and cycle stability of the Zn powder electrode are significantly enhanced while keeping a high Zn utilization. With an optimized N/P ratio of 4.3, the ZP-NC||NaV₃O₈·1.5H₂O (NVO) full battery achieves a high energy density of 81 Wh kg⁻¹. This work provides a facile method to enhance the performance of Zn powder-based anodes for practical application, and it also plays a pivotal role in advancing the development of AZIBs with high energy density.