A Function‐Separated Design of Electrode for Realizing High‐Performance Hybrid Zinc Battery

A rechargeable hybrid zinc battery is developed for reaching high power density and high energy density simultaneously by introducing an alkaline Zn–transition metal compound (Zn–MX) battery function into a Zn–air battery. However, the conventional single‐layer electrode design cannot satisfy the requirements of both a hydrophilic interface for facilitating ionic transfer to maximize the Zn–MX battery function and a hydrophobic interface for promoting gas diffusion to maximize the Zn–air battery function. Here, a function‐separated design is proposed, which allocates the two battery functions to the two faces of the cathode. The electrode is composed of a hydrophobic MnS layer decorated with Ni–Co–S nanoclusters that allows for smooth gas diffusion and efficient oxygen electrocatalysis and a hydrophilic Ni x Co 1− x S 2 layer that favors fast ionic transfer and superior performance for energy storage. The battery with the function‐separated electrode shows a high short‐term discharge voltage of ≈ 1.7 V, an excellent high‐rate galvanostatic discharge–charge with a power density up to 153 mW cm −2 at 100 mA cm −2 , a good round‐trip efficiency of 75% at 5 mA cm −2 , and a robust cycling stability for 330 h with an excellent voltage gap of ≈0.7 V at 5 mA cm −2 .