The stability of Zn anode is significantly affected by the fluctuation of interfacial pH value, but there is still limited attention paid to this issue. In this work, we regulating the interfacial pH value to enhance the stability of Zn anode via a novel environmentally-friendly additive D-galactose (D-Gal). D-Gal with great negative electrostatic potential and a low lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level energy was chemisorbed on Zn anode to not only isolate H₂O contact with Zn anode. The in-situ pH test confirmed that D-Gal guaranteed a stable pH environment. Furthermore, the D-Gal additive contributes to uniform deposition for stable Zn anode. Therefore, the Zn||Zn symmetric cell exhibits a cycle life of 2600 h at 1.0 mA·cm⁻² and 1.0 mAh·cm⁻². Even at high current density of 10 mA·cm⁻², it can stabilize 900 h. When paired with a vanadium-based cathode, the full battery demonstrated a stable capacity retention of 62.78% at 1.0 A·g⁻¹ following 2000 cycles. This work provides a new insight into interfacial stability for aqueous zinc metal batteries.

Rechargeable Zn metal batteries (RZMBs) have emerged as promising candidates for large-scale energy storage systems due to their high safety, environmental friendliness, and low cost. However, Zn metal anode still faces a series of side reactions, including hydrogen evolution, dendrite, corrosion, and passivation. Moreover, emerging electronic devices such as flexible electronic devices, portable electronic devices and linear energy devices, have different functional requirements for energy storage technologies, which cannot be met by conventional Zn foil anode. In the face of these challenges, designing new configuration of Zn anode is urgently needed. This review summarizes the advances of various new configuration anode materials, including three-dimensional Zn anode, 3D printed Zn anode, printed Zn anode, imprinted Zn anode, linear Zn anode and their energy storage devices. The advantages, challenges and corresponding strategies of these new configuration anode were discussed. Finally, future development directions and perspectives of these anode materials were presented.

Multivalent-ion (such as Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Al³⁺) batteries are considered as a prospective alternative for large-scale energy storage. However, the main problem of cathode materials for multivalent-ion batteries is the sluggish diffusion of multivalent ions. Many cathode materials will self-adjust under electrochemical conditions to achieve the optimal state for multivalent-ion storage. In this review, the significant role of electrochemical in situ structural reconstruction of cathode materials is suggested. The types, basic characteristics, and formation mechanisms of reconstructed phases have been systematically discussed and commented. The most important insight we pointed out is that the cathode materials with loose structures after in situ electrochemical activation are conducive to the reversible diffusion of multivalent ions. Moreover, several crucial issues of electrochemical activation and reconstruction were further analyzed and discussed. The challenges and future perspectives are presented in the final section.

With the merit of high capacity, high safety, and low cost, zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) possess huge application potential in the domain of large-scale energy storage. However, due to the relatively narrow voltage window and large lattice distortion of cationic redox reaction, ZIBs tend to present low energy density, poor kinetics, and unstable cyclic performance. Anion chemistry seems to provide a novel strategy to solve these issues from different aspects, such as enhanced operating voltage, extra capacity contribution, and boosted reaction kinetics. Considering the significance of this theory and the lack of relevant literatures, herein, in-depth comprehension of anionic chemistry and its positive effects on zinc storage performance have been emphasized and summarized. This review aims to present a full scope of anionic chemistry and furnish systematic cognition for rational design of advanced ZIBs with high energy density. Furthermore, insightful analysis and perspectives based on the current research status also have been proposed, which may point out some scientific suggestions and directions for the future research.