Host-design strategies of zinc anodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) have garnered considerable interest as an eco-friendly, safe, and cost-effective energy storage solution. Although significant strides have been made in recent years, there remain technical hurdles to overcome. Herein, this review summarizes in detail the primary challenges confronting aqueous zinc ion batteries, including the rampant dendrite growth, and water-induced parasitic reactions, and proposes host-engineering modification strategies focusing on optimizing the structure design of the zinc anode substrates, involving three-dimensional structure design, zincophilicity regulation, and epitaxial-oriented modification, and comprehensively analyzes the structure-activity relationship between different modification strategies and battery performance. In addition, we highlight the research trends and prospects in future anode modification for aqueous zinc-ion batteries. This work offers valuable insights into advanced Zn anode constructions for further applications in high-performance AZIBs.