Opportunities and challenges of zinc anodes in rechargeable aqueous batteries

Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have recently attracted increasing research interests due to their high safety, low cost, abundant resources, and eco-friendliness compared with commercial lithium-ion batteries. However, problems of zinc anodes in ZIBs such as zinc dendrites and side reactions severely shorten the cycling lifetime and restrict the practical application of ZIBs. In this review, the fundamental understanding of existing issues including dendrite formation, corrosion, and hydrogen evolution are mainly revealed, the current existing strategies on the protection of the zinc electrode and electrolyte engineering in the aqueous electrolyte are discussed. In addition, the existing techniques applied on analyzing the interaction between anodes and electrolytes are summarized. Furthermore, perspectives and suggestions are provided to design highly stable zinc anodes.

Automated summary

Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have gained increasing research attention due to their advantages over commercial lithium-ion batteries in terms of safety, cost, resources, and eco-friendliness. However, problems with zinc anodes, such as dendrite formation and side reactions, limit the cycling lifetime and practical application of ZIBs. This review focuses on understanding these issues, discussing existing strategies for zinc electrode protection and electrolyte engineering, summarizing techniques for analyzing anode-electrolyte interactions, and providing perspectives and suggestions for designing highly stable zinc anodes.