Interfacial Dual-Coordination Inducing Selective Zn (002) Growth for Dendrite-Free Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) hold great promise for stationary energy storage, yet their practical deployment is critically impeded by the uncontrolled dendritic growth and parasitic side reactions. Here, we report an interfacial dual-coordination strategy to induce Zn deposition along the Zn(002) facet and suppress the parasitic side reactions. By employing lactic acid (Lac) to pretreat commercial Zn foil, we construct a chemisorbed interface that serves a synergistic “inhibition-guidance” function: the carboxyl group (-COO − ) forms strong bidentate coordination to passivate high-energy Zn (100)/(101) facets, while the hydroxyl group (-OH) establishes a low-energy diffusion pathway on the Zn (002) facet to guide Zn 2+ migration. This intrinsic regulation induces a highly selective Zn (002)-preferred growth, resulting in a dendrite-free lac@Zn anode. Consequently, the lac@Zn symmetric cell achieves a long lifespan of 4900 h (1 mA cm −2 , 1 mAh cm −2 ) and 500 h (5 mA cm −2 , 5 mAh cm −2 , DOD = 37%). Besides, the lac@Zn//MnO 2 full cell delivers exceptional reversibility with 76% capacity retention after 3000 cycles, and a pouch cell presents a high discharge capacity of 0.2 Ah. This work offers a new perspective for developing ultradurable and scalable Zn anodes through precise interfacial engineering.