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Vol. 18 (2026)

Engineering In Situ Loose Selective Interface with Conducting Channels for Practical Ah-Level Aqueous Zinc Metal Batteries

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02264-y
Dongdong Wang
State Key Laboratory of Utilization of Woody Oil Resource, Key Laboratory of Bio‑Based Material Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, People’s Republic of China
Shuo Dou
State Key Laboratory of Utilization of Woody Oil Resource, Key Laboratory of Bio‑Based Material Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, People’s Republic of China
Qiongying Huang
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China
Jiaying Li
State Key Laboratory of Utilization of Woody Oil Resource, Key Laboratory of Bio‑Based Material Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, People’s Republic of China
Mi Xu
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China
Jingshuai Li
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China
Zhendong Guo
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China
Siqi Qin
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China
Tieyan Wang
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China
Haipeng Yu
State Key Laboratory of Utilization of Woody Oil Resource, Key Laboratory of Bio‑Based Material Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, People’s Republic of China
Haozhen Dou
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China
Zhongwei Chen
Power Battery & Systems Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Zhongwei Chen

zhwchen@dicp.ac.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 431

Abstract

In situ construction of highly conductive and self-repairing electrode interface with porous materials remains a grand challenge for practical aqueous batteries. Herein, loose selective interface (LSI) is in situ constructed by self-assembly of porous organic cages (POCs) for practical Ah-level aqueous zinc metal batteries. The delicate balance between hydrogen-bonding interactions of POC-POC and coordination interactions of POC–anion/cation endows LSI with loose porous structure, selective Zn2+-conducting channels and dynamic self-repairing capability. LSI obtains the high Zn2+ transfer number of 0.8, fast desolvation kinetics and homogeneous electric field distribution, which induces the dendrite-free Zn deposition along the Zn (002) plane. Meanwhile, LSI effectively confines the activity of interfacial water and enhances interfacial hydrophobicity, thus inhibiting the water-induced side reactions. Notably, Zn//Zn cells deliver the cycling life over 3200 cycles at 50 mA cm−2 and Zn//NVO full cells stably perform over 10,000 cycles at 10 A g−1. Moreover, Ah-level pouch cell with high cathode areal capacity of 7.25 mAh cm−2 and limited N/P of 2.65 delivers the initial discharge capacity of 1 Ah and cycling stability for over 237 cycles. This study offers a novel methodology for constructing stable highly conductive interfaces with porous materials.


Highlights:
1 A loose selective interface (LSI) is in situ constructed by self-assembly of porous organic cages for aqueous Zn metal batteries.
2 The porous LSI enables fast Zn2+ transport, dynamic self-repairing capability and dendrite-free Zn deposition.
3 Ah-level aqueous Zn pouch cells deliver 1 Ah capacity with stable cycling performance.

Keywords

Aqueous zinc metal batteries Porous organic cages Loose selective interface Molecular engineering
Wang, Dongdong, Shuo Dou, Qiongying Huang, Jiaying Li, Mi Xu, Jingshuai Li, Zhendong Guo, Siqi Qin, Tieyan Wang, Haipeng Yu, Haozhen Dou, and Zhongwei Chen. 2026. “Engineering In Situ Loose Selective Interface With Conducting Channels for Practical Ah-Level Aqueous Zinc Metal Batteries”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (July):431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02264-y.
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