Recyclable and Ultrafast Fabrication of Zinc Oxide Interface Layer Enabling Highly Reversible Dendrite-Free Zn Anode

The surface coating is effective in suppressing Zn dendrite and side reactions, while the existing processing methods employ complex procedures and expensive equipment. Here, we develop an I2-assisted processing method to in situ fabricate the ZnO interface layer on the Zn anode (denoted as IAZO). This strategy features the sustainability that the raw materials, I2, could be reused with a recovery ratio of 67.25% and rapid processing time that only takes 5 min. The IAZO anode achieves an extraordinary cycle life of over 3100 h and a high depth of discharge of 52%, much better than the original Zn anode (less than 220 h and 1.7%). Density functional theory calculations and COMSOL simulation reveal that the IAZO anode has a high binding energy with Zn2+, which contributes to the uniform distribution of the electric field and Zn2+ flux.