High Zn(002)-preferential orientation enabled by a proton additive for dendrite-free zinc anodes†

Although zinc-based batteries have long been considered as one of the most promising technologies for large-scale energy storage, their development has been seriously hindered by dendrite formation. Constructing highly (002)-textured Zn electrodes to guide Zn deposition has been demonstrated as an effective approach for dendrite suppression due to the lowest surface energy and closest packing morphology of the Zn(002) texture. Herein, a cation additive (proton) is reported for the first time as a universal strategy to effectively promote the formation of Zn(002) texture. A high Zn(002)-preferential orientation was obtained in a simple ZnSO₄ + H₂SO₄ electrolyte, which effectively suppressed the formation of dendrite and side reactions. The Zn(002)||Zn(002) symmetric cell can cycle stably for an unprecedented 1900 hours under a practical deposition capacity of 5 mA h cm⁻² with a current density of 5 mA cm⁻². The morphology evolution and formation mechanism of Zn (002) texture in electrolytes with a proton additive were also systematically investigated. This cation texturing strategy may provide novel insights into constructing high (002)-preferential orientation of metallic Zn.