Severe zinc dendrite growth is a formidable challenge in aqueous zinc-ion batteries during repeated cycles because of the uneven distribution of electric fields on a post-stripping zinc anode. Herein, we demonstrate a totally new nucleation mechanism by introducing cations with high valence (Ce³⁺ and La³⁺) into the electrolyte to homogenize electric fields and regulate the zinc deposition behavior. Intriguingly, a detailed evolution investigation of surface morphology discloses that zinc nucleation shifts to progressive nucleation via the preferential adsorption of cation additives from instantaneous nucleation in the addtive-free electrolyte, thereby resulting in the stable zinc stripping/plating behavior. A symmetric cell with 0.01 M Ce₂(SO₄)₃ can be cycled at 5 A g⁻¹ with a lower voltage hysteresis of 83.3 mV for more than 700 h, which is remarkably longer than that of the pristine one (282 h). A higher capacity retention of Zn//NaV₃O₈·1.5H₂O cell (87.0%) after 250 cycles at 5 A g⁻¹ is also achieved in comparison with that in addtive-free electrolyte (68.1%). This work provides new and deep insights into the effects of cation adsorption on zinc nucleation.

中文翻译：

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渐进成核机制可实现稳定的锌剥镀行为

由于剥离后锌阳极上的电场分布不均匀，在重复循环期间，严重的锌枝晶生长是水性锌离子电池中的一项艰巨挑战。在此，我们通过将高价阳离子（Ce ³⁺和 La ³⁺）引入电解质中以均匀电场并调节锌沉积行为，展示了一种全新的成核机制。有趣的是，对表面形态的详细演变研究表明，锌成核通过无添加剂电解质中瞬时成核的阳离子添加剂的优先吸附转变为渐进成核，从而导致稳定的锌剥离/电镀行为。具有 0.01 M Ce _{2 的}对称电池(SO ₄ ) ₃可以在5 A g ^-1下以83.3 mV的较低电压滞后循环超过700小时，明显长于原始的（282小时）。与不含添加剂的电解质（68.1%）相比，在 5 A g ^{-1 下}循环 250 次后，Zn//NaV ₃ O ₈ ·1.5H ₂ O 电池的容量保持率更高（87.0 %）。这项工作为阳离子吸附对锌成核的影响提供了新的和深入的见解。