The ultrathin prenucleation interface–stabilized metal Zn anode toward high-performance flexible Zn-batteries

Flexible zinc (Zn) metal batteries (ZMBs) have attracted particular attention because of much high volumetric capacity of Zn anodes (5845 mAh/cm³) and abundant Zn resources in the earth. However, the unfavorable mechanical flexibility and poor cycling stability caused by the rigid and uncontrolled dendrites of Zn anodes hinder their development. Herein, a dendrite-free Zn metal anode is achieved by an ultrathin NH₄V₄O₁₀ film–modified carbon cloth, which can be served as Zn nucleation sites to effectively reduce the overpotential for Zn uniform deposition. As a result, the half-cell with the carbon cloth@NH₄V₄O₁₀-16 (CC@NVO-16) electrode exhibited a stable cycling performance of over 280 cycles at 1 mA/cm² with high Coulombic efficiency of 99.21% and much lower overpotential. Excitingly, the flexible solid-state ZMB with the CC@NVO-16@Zn exhibits superior stability and a high energy density of 374.6 Wh/kg/980.0 W/kg, which is superior to the most recent report so far. This work also provides an efficient strategy in constructing long-life and safe flexible ZMB systems.