@article{Liu2026, 
author = {Jingwen Liu and Han Jiang and Qianyi Chen and Xiang Guo and Hongxu Li and Viet Q. Bui and Xinghui Liu},
title = {Resolving cross-scale contradictions in fast-charging zinc anode interfaces for practical applications},
year = {2026},
journal = {Composite Functional Materials},
volume = {2},
number = {3},
keywords = {Aqueous zinc-ion batteries, Extreme fast charging, Kinetics and stability, Polarization, Zn anode},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.63823/20260304},
doi = {10.63823/20260304},
abstract = {Fast-charging aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have advanced rapidly owing to their intrinsic safety, low cost and the longer Sand's time of divalent Zn2+, which can delay ion-depletion-limited failure compared with monovalent Li+. Nevertheless, the divalent nature also imposes sluggish desolvation and interfacial charge-transfer kinetics, making fast zinc deposition highly susceptible to polarization, dendrite growth, parasitic reactions, and rapid capacity decay. Existing reviews mainly classify materials and strategies, whereas the field lacks a scale-resolved framework explaining where fast-charging failure originates, how it propagates and when it becomes irreversible. Here we propose a polarization-driven “three contradictions” framework for AZIBs, in which microscopic ion-electron transport mismatch generates polarization, mesoscale kinetics-uniformity conflict amplifies nonuniform deposition, and macroscopic electrochemical stability window (ESW)-limited rate-capacity trade-off converts accumulated overpotential into capacity loss and full-cell failure. By mapping desolvation design, foil/powder electrode engineering and wide-window electrolyte strategies onto these three stages, we further propose practical evaluation protocols based on DODZn, cumulative plating capacity (CPC), E/C ratio, N/P ratio and full-cell validation, providing a roadmap from high-rate laboratory demonstrations toward application of AZIBs under XFC conditions.}
}