Synergistic Wood-Derived Carbon Host With In Situ Formed Zinc Phosphate Layer for Stable Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) show great potential for large-scale energy storage applications due to their high safety, low cost, and high energy density. Nevertheless, zinc anodes encounter issues such as parasitic reactions and dendrite growth in aqueous electrolytes. This paper proposes carbonized natural wood to create a carbon framework (CW) with an oriented pore structure, followed by zinc deposition and in situ formation of a Zn₃(PO₄)₂·4H₂O protective layer, resulting in a CW@Zn/ZPO composite anode. This structure offers abundant active sites and a uniform electric field, guiding homogeneous zinc deposition, while the zinc phosphate layer suppresses dendrites and side reactions. The symmetric cell achieves stable cycling for 1500 h at 1 mA cm^-2 and 1 mAh cm^-2. A full battery with MnO₂ cathode maintains 170 mAh g^-1 after 1000 cycles at 1 A g^-1, demonstrating high application potential. This work provides an effective anode design strategy for high-performance zinc-based batteries.