Reversible zinc powder anode via crystal facet engineering

Aqueous energy storage devices require highly reversible Zn electrodes, but this has been impeded by challenges including dendrite growth, low efficiency, hydrogen evolution, and metal corrosion. Here, a reversible Zn powder electrode is fabricated via engineering the growth of zinc crystals in different solvents. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the adsorption energy gap of different solvents on the (002) or (100) facet of Zn metal varies and that a larger energy gap favors a higher orientation of Zn (002) plane. Highly oriented Zn (002) powder exhibits horizontal deposition, corrosion resistance, faster kinetics, and longer life under deep discharge (60%) in symmetric cells compared with less-oriented Zn. Under practical conditions including low N/P ratios (1–3), high-loading cathodes (10–18 mg cm−2), and lean electrolyte (5–9 μL mg−1), highly (002)-oriented Zn powder-based batteries and supercapacitors demonstrate large capacity (∼3 mAh cm−2) and energy/power density (108 Wh kg−1/2,317 W kg−1), holding promise for applications.