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. 2025 Aug 13:e10617.
doi: 10.1002/advs.202510617. Online ahead of print.

Electroplating Carbon Nano-Onion on Copper for Dendrite-Free and Anode-Free Zinc-Ion Batteries

Yufan Zhang  1 , Ramu Banavath  1 , Shegufta Upama  2 , Sayyam Deshpande  1 , Huaixuan Cao  1 , Brian R Stepp  3 , Navid Attarzadeh  3 , Stephnie Peat  3 , Joseph V Kosmoski  3 , Evan C Johnson  3 , Micah J Green  1   2
Affiliations

Electroplating Carbon Nano-Onion on Copper for Dendrite-Free and Anode-Free Zinc-Ion Batteries

Yufan Zhang et al. Adv Sci (Weinh). .

Abstract

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have emerged as a promising and safer alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their cost-effectiveness, material abundance, and the use of non-flammable aqueous electrolytes; however, the widespread adoption of ZIBs is still hindered by challenges such as dendrite formation, hydrogen evolution, and electrode passivation. Herein, the electroplating of carbon nano-onions (CNOs) and Cu is demonstrated to form a CNO-embedded-Cu coating onto Cu foil for use as Zn anode current collectors, which facilitates high zinc plating/stripping efficiency (99.89%) over 1400 cycles. This CNO-embedded-Cu coating ensures high conductivity of the substrate surface and stabilizes Zn deposition by embedded CNOs. This CNO@Cu film achieves long-term cycling with an 85.5% depth of discharge over 176 h, outperforming traditional Cu (102 h). Further, a ZIB fabricated with a CNO@Cu current collector in an anode-free configuration paired with a zincified NH4V4O10 cathode demonstrates a high volumetric energy density of 194.8 Wh L-1. CNO@Cu offers a low-cost, scalable, and high-performance solution for industrial anode-free ZIBs, and this work sets the foundation for future improvements in ZIBs by utilizing cost-effective, industrial-grade nanomaterials.

Keywords: anode‐free batteries; carbon nano‐onions; current collector; dendrite‐free; electroplating; zinc‐ion batteries.

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