Selective Shielding of the (002) Plane Enabling Vertically Oriented Zinc Plating for Dendrite-Free Zinc Anode

Uncontrolled growth of Zn dendrites hinders the future development of aqueous Zn-ion batteries. Despite that the (100) plane possesses better zincophilic ability and fast kinetics, dendrites are generally suppressed via (002) plane-oriented Zn deposition in previous reports; the ordered (100) plane-dominant Zn deposition, especially under high current density has not yet been realized. Herein, vertically-oriented Zn plating with preferential growth of (100) plane is reported using disodium lauryl phosphate (DLP) as an electrolyte additive. DLP is preferentially anchored on the Zn (002) crystal plane via the polar phosphate group, then the deposition of Zn atoms on the (002) plane is retarded by the long alkyl chain, finally promoting the preferred growth of the (100) plane. This unique growth pattern results in ultrastable Zn plating/stripping at a super-high current density of 50 mA cm^-2 , with a cumulative capacity of 8500 mAh cm^-2 . The Zn//Zn symmetric cell also cycles steadily for 700 h with a large areal capacity of 10 mAh cm^-2 at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 . This study provides new insights into the realization of dendrite-free Zn anodes by crystal plane modulation.