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Vol. 19 (2027)

Polyhydroxy Molecular Regulator Enabled Interfacial Microenvironment Programming for Alkaline Zinc–Iron Flow Batteries

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02333-2
Hui Chen
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng 224051, People’s Republic of China
Lukang Han
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Chemistry, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Shaohua Han
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Electronic Packaging and Advanced Functional Materials, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Weijie Fan
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Electronic Packaging and Advanced Functional Materials, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Xuhong Yin
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng 224051, People’s Republic of China
Junqing Pan
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Chemistry, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Manal S. Ebaid
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Northern Border University, Arar 73213, Saudi Arabia
Yuxi Song
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng 224051, People’s Republic of China
Fuyu Chen
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng 224051, People’s Republic of China
Jiang Zhou
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Electronic Packaging and Advanced Functional Materials, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Jiang Zhou

zhou_jiang@csu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 19 (2027), Article Number: 47

Abstract

Alkaline zinc–iron flow batteries (ZIFBs) are attractive for large-scale energy storage because of their low cost, intrinsic safety, and scalable architecture, yet their practical deployment remains hindered by hydrogen evolution and uncontrolled Zn deposition in three-dimensional porous electrodes. Here, we report that isomalt acts as a polyhydroxy molecular regulator that reconfigures the interfacial microenvironment of porous carbon felt, thereby endowing the porous electrode with a more deposition-directing function for reversible Zn plating/stripping. In the bulk electrolyte, isomalt reconstructs the local hydrogen-bond network, lowers water activity, and suppresses hydrogen evolution. At the carbon/electrolyte interface, its preferential lateral adsorption establishes a hydroxyl-rich interphase that homogenizes zincate transport and directs Zn growth toward a preferred (002) orientation, thus promoting compact and reversible deposition. This interfacial microenvironment programming markedly reduces the charge-transfer resistance and activation barrier of the Zn anode, enabling stable cycling for over 500 cycles at 20 mA cm−2. In full-cell tests, the optimized ZIFB delivers a high energy efficiency of 87.5%, substantially outperforming the pristine electrolyte. Beyond identifying a low-cost green additive, this work establishes polyhydroxy molecules as interfacial programming units for three-dimensional porous electrodes, offering a new design concept for directional metal deposition in aqueous flow-battery systems.


Highlights:
1 Isomalt acts as a polyhydroxy molecular regulator that couples bulk-electrolyte reconstruction with interfacial microenvironment programming.
2 Isomalt reorganizes the hydrogen-bond network and establishes a hydroxyl-rich interphase through preferential lateral adsorption on carbon.
3 This coupled regulation enables more reversible Zn plating/stripping and durable alkaline Zn-Fe flow batteries with high efficiency and long cycling stability.

Keywords

Hydrogen-bond network Interfacial microenvironment programming Zincate transport Polyhydroxy molecular regulator Zinc–iron flow batteries
Chen, Hui, Lukang Han, Shaohua Han, Weijie Fan, Xuhong Yin, Junqing Pan, Manal S. Ebaid, Yuxi Song, Fuyu Chen, and Jiang Zhou. 2026. “Polyhydroxy Molecular Regulator Enabled Interfacial Microenvironment Programming for Alkaline Zinc–Iron Flow Batteries”. Nano-Micro Letters 19 (September):47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02333-2.
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