Issue

Vol. 17 (2025)

Scalable and Sustainable Chitosan/Carbon Nanotubes Composite Protective Layer for Dendrite-Free and Long-Cycling Aqueous Zinc-Metal Batteries

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01837-7
Jinchang Wang
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Catalysis, College of Energy Material and Chemistry, Institute for Green Chemistry and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China
Alessandro Innocenti
Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Hang Wei
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Catalysis, College of Energy Material and Chemistry, Institute for Green Chemistry and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China
Yuanyuan Zhang
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Catalysis, College of Energy Material and Chemistry, Institute for Green Chemistry and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China
Jingsong Peng
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Catalysis, College of Energy Material and Chemistry, Institute for Green Chemistry and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China
Yuanting Qiao
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK
Weifeng Huang
China-Italy Joint Laboratory of In-Situ/Operando Instrumentation Beijing Science Star Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Jian Liu
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Catalysis, College of Energy Material and Chemistry, Institute for Green Chemistry and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Jian Liu

jian.liu@surrey.ac.uk

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 17 (2025), Article Number: 326

Abstract

Rechargeable aqueous zinc (Zn)-metal batteries hold great promise for next-generation energy storage systems. However, their practical application is hindered by several challenges, including dendrite formation, corrosion, and the competing hydrogen evolution reaction. To address these issues, we designed and fabricated a composite protective layer for Zn anodes by integrating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with chitosan through a simple and scalable scraping process. The CNTs ensure uniform electric field distribution due to their high electrical conductivity, while protonated chitosan regulates ion transport and suppresses dendrite formation at the anode interface. The chitosan/CNTs composite layer also facilitates smooth Zn2+ deposition, enhancing the stability and reversibility of the Zn anode. As a result, the chitosan/CNTs @ Zn anode demonstrates exceptional cycling stability, achieving over 3000 h of plating/stripping with minimal degradation. When paired with a V2O5 cathode, the composite-protected anode significantly improves the cycle stability and energy density of the full cell. Techno-economic analysis confirms that batteries incorporating the chitosan/CNTs protective layer outperform those with bare Zn anodes in terms of energy density and overall performance under optimized conditions. This work provides a scalable and sustainable strategy to overcome the critical challenges of aqueous Zn-metal batteries, paving the way for their practical application in next-generation energy storage systems.


Highlights:
1 A sustainable protective layer for Zn anodes integrating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and chitosan via a simple scraping process to inhibit dendrite growth and side reactions.
2 Chitosan’s polar functional groups enhance Zn2+ transport, and the even distribution of CNTs lowers local current density, enabling a uniform electric field to regulate Zn deposition.
3 Benefiting from the chitosan/CNTs protective layer, the Zn//Zn and Zn//V2O5 cells showcase significantly enhanced electrochemical performance, and technical economic analyses demonstrate their practical applications.

Keywords

Zn anode Chitosan/CNTs Protective layer Techno-economic analysis Biomimetic
Wang, Jinchang, Alessandro Innocenti, Hang Wei, Yuanyuan Zhang, Jingsong Peng, Yuanting Qiao, Weifeng Huang, and Jian Liu. 2025. “Scalable and Sustainable Chitosan/Carbon Nanotubes Composite Protective Layer for Dendrite-Free and Long-Cycling Aqueous Zinc-Metal Batteries”. Nano-Micro Letters 17 (July):326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01837-7.
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