Bulk-Phase Reconstruction Enables Robust Zinc Metal Anodes for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are inherently safe, but the severe dendrite growth and corrosion reaction on zinc anodes greatly hinder their practical applications. Most of the strategies for zinc anode modification refer to the research of lithium metal anodes on surface regulation without considering the intrinsic mechanisms of zinc anode. Herein, we first point out that surface modification cannot permanently protect zinc anodes due to the unavoidable surface damage during the stripping process by solid-liquid conversion. A bulk-phase reconstruction strategy is proposed to introduce abundant zincophilic sites both on the surface and inside the commercial zinc foils. The bulk-phase reconstructed zinc foil anodes exhibit uniform surfaces with high zincophilicity even after deep stripping, significantly improving the resistance to dendrite growth and side reactions. Our proposed strategy suggests a promising direction for the development of dendrite-free metal anodes for practical rechargeable batteries with high sustainability.

Automated summary

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are safe but hindered by dendrite growth and corrosion on zinc anodes. Strategies for zinc anode modification have focused on lithium metal anodes without considering zinc anode mechanisms. Our proposed bulk-phase reconstruction strategy introduces zincophilic sites both on the surface and inside commercial zinc foils to improve resistance to dendrite growth and side reactions. This strategy offers a promising direction for developing dendrite-free metal anodes for sustainable rechargeable batteries.