Designing macromolecular modifiers for zinc metal batteries

In recent years, aqueous zinc metal batteries have greatly intrigued scientists; however, zinc anode suffers from many issues such as dendrites, hydrogen evolution, and passivation. To address the dilemma of zinc anode, macromolecular interfacial modifiers are employed to improve the stability of zinc anode. In this review, it is summarized that macromolecular modifiers facilitate highly stable zinc anode in aqueous electrolyte. Combined with the issues of zinc anode and the characteristics of macromolecules, the advantages of macromolecules as interface modifiers are discussed. Moreover, the effects of macromolecules modified electrolyte, zinc anode, separator, and current collector on the interfacial properties of zinc anode are discussed, respectively. The current challenges and future research directions are proposed from the perspective of the application of macromolecules in zinc powder anode, the relationship between the structure of macromolecules and the deeper principle of stabilizing zinc anode, and the application of macromolecular modifiers in other metal anodes, etc.