A calcium oxalate protective interphase for regulated zinc deposition in aqueous batteries.

Authors

Zhou Fang, Lun Zhang, Weihua Zhou, Junrun Feng, Zhuo Chen, Ziming Wan, Haoyu Feng, Lin Sheng, Zhuo Peng, Wenyuan Zhang, Zhangxiang Hao

Published in

Nanoscale. Aug 18, 2026. Epub Aug 18, 2026.

Abstract

Interfacial instability of Zn metal anodes, including nonuniform deposition, parasitic reactions, hydrogen evolution, corrosion, and by-product accumulation, remains a major challenge for aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Herein, we report a facile calcium oxalate (CaC₂O₄) protective coating to regulate the Zn/electrolyte interface. Owing to its low solubility and inorganic stability, the CaC₂O₄ layer serves as a persistent ion-regulating interphase that reduces direct water contact and promotes more uniform Zn²⁺ transport and deposition. Structural characterization confirms a continuous coating, while XPS indicates interfacial electronic interaction. In situ Raman spectroscopy shows that the perturbed oxalate-related ν_s(COO^-) band remains detectable and evolves in intensity during initial Zn plating, supporting both persistence of the oxalate-containing framework and perturbation of its local interfacial environment. Electrochemical kinetic analyses show that the apparent activation energy for interfacial Zn²⁺ transport decreases from 17.58 to 10.04 kJ mol^-1 after CaC₂O₄ modification, accompanied by reduced charge-transfer resistance and nucleation overpotential. These improvements suppress corrosion, hydrogen evolution, and zinc hydroxide sulfate by-product formation, enabling approximately 1450 h of Zn∥Zn cycling at 5 mA cm^-2 and 1 mAh cm^-2. Moreover, CaC₂O₄@Zn∥MnO₂ full cells retain 60% capacity after 600 cycles at 1 A g^-1. This work demonstrates a low-cost inorganic interphase for stabilizing Zn anodes through persistent protection and interfacial Zn²⁺ transport regulation.

PMID:
42610484
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 18 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.