Stabilizing Zinc Anodes via a Zeolite-Induced Localized Supersaturated Electrolyte Interface

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) hold great potential for cost-effective and safe grid-scale energy storage, yet their lifespan is limited by dendrite growth and side reactions arising from an unstable electrode/electrolyte interface. Although high-concentration electrolytes can tune solvation structure and enhance Zn plating/stripping stability, they suffer from high cost and low practicality. Herein, we propose a localized supersaturated electrolyte interface (LSEI) concept via constructing a low Si/Al ratio ZSM-5 zeolite (LZ5) interphase on the Zn surface. The abundant Brønsted acid sites inside the LZ5 nanochannels function as "ion tentacles" to spontaneously capture and confine Zn²⁺, dramatically raising the localized Zn²⁺ concentration on the Zn surface even in a dilute ZnSO₄ electrolyte (1 M). This LSEI creates a H₂O-deficient and anion-enriched Zn²⁺ solvation structure at the LZ5 interface, which concurrently accelerates Zn²⁺ desolvation and transport dynamics for dendrite-free deposition and suppresses H₂O-induced side reactions. Consequently, the LZ5@Zn symmetric cells deliver a lifespan of over 2400 h and a high cumulative capacity exceeding 5.5 Ah cm^-2. The assembled LZ5@Zn//NH₄V₄O₁₀ full cells achieve 96% capacity retention over 1200 cycles at 3 A g^-1. Our findings highlight the potential of LSEI design for developing durable Zn anodes toward practical AZIBs.