Dynamic Hydrophobic Liquid Interphase Engineering: A New Paradigm for Advanced Aqueous Zinc Batteries

Abstract

The narrow electrochemical stability window of water, together with the interfacial instability at the Zn and electrolyte interface, continues to pose key barriers to the practical development of high‐energy aqueous zinc batteries. In a recent advance, Li et al. reported a hydrophobic liquid electrolyte interphase strategy enabled by low‐concentration, electrode‐philic ether additives in a conventional aqueous Zn(OTf) 2 electrolyte. The optimized additive, 1,2‐diethoxyethane, spontaneously assembles at electrode surfaces, creating a dynamic liquid interphase that selectively repels water while maintaining fast ion transport. Such an interfacial environment effectively mitigates hydrogen evolution and suppresses dendritic zinc growth. Meanwhile, the electrochemical stability window of the electrolyte is significantly expanded to 3.08 V, without sacrificing bulk ionic conductivity. In practical Zn||NaV 3 O 8 full cells, the optimized electrolyte enables stable cycling for over 500 cycles with high Coulombic efficiency (99.95%) and 80% capacity retention. This work highlights a molecular‐level interfacial design strategy that extends conventional interphase engineering toward adaptive, dynamic liquid interphases, offering new insights into advanced aqueous metal batteries.