Orienting and accelerating Zn migration by strategic interfacial engineering for achieving highly stable zinc anodes.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries owing to their abundant zinc resources, low cost, environmental friendliness, and impressive theoretical specific capacity of 820 mAh g. However, zinc anodes face significant challenges, including short cycle lifetimes and poor reversibility, primarily due to rampant dendrite growth and the inevitable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). To address these issues, an artificial protective layer of Ca-doped LaCrO (denoted as LCCO2) was coated onto zinc foil utilizing a facile doctor blade casting method. Experimental results demonstrate that the dense and uniform LCCO2 coating effectively suppresses side reactions, regulates the electric field at the zinc anode interface, and facilitates rapid ion migration coupled uniform zinc deposition, thereby enhancing anode stability. Remarkably, symmetrical cells with LCCO2 coating exhibit a stable cycle lifespan of 1500 h at 5 mA cm, along with highly reversible zinc plating/stripping behavior. Furthermore, the LCCO2@Zn||MnO full cell also delivers a high reversible capacity of 174 mAh g after 500 cycles at 1 A g, underscoring the advantages of the LCCO2 protective layer in achieving highly reversible Zn anodes.