Comprehensive review on zinc-ion battery anode: Challenges and strategies

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have been extensively investigated and discussed as promising energy storage devices in recent years owing to their low cost, high energy density, inherent safety, and low environmental impact. Nevertheless, several challenges remain that need to be prioritized before realizing the widespread application of ZIBs. In particular, the development of zinc anodes has been hindered by many challenges, such as inevitable zinc dendrites, corrosion passivation, and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which have severely limited the practical application of high-performance ZIBs. This review starts with a systematic discussion of the origins of zinc dendrites, corrosion passivation, and the HER, as well as their effects on battery performance. Subsequently, we discuss solutions to the above problems to protect the zinc anode, including the improvement of zinc anode materials, modification of the anode-electrolyte interface, and optimization of the electrolyte. In particular, this review emphasizes design strategies to protect zinc anodes from an integrated perspective with broad interest rather than a view with limited focus. In the final section, comments and perspectives are provided for the future design of high-performance zinc anodes.