Interfacial NiM-regulated Zn2+ flux and multisite nucleation in flexible zinc Powder@Conductive fabric anodes for high-performance Zn-I2 batteries

Aqueous zinc-based batteries (AZBs) face significant challenges due to severe dendrite growth, inter-facial corrosion, and mechanical failure such as bending-induced cracking of conventional zinc anodes, which greatly limits their application in flexible energy storage devices. This work presents a composite flexible anode comprising Zn particles anchored on conductive fabric and coated with a nickel (II) succinate MOF (NiM). The NiM layer facilitates interfacial Zn 2+ transport and redistribution, while the dispersed Zn particles provide an enlarged electrochemically active interface, synergistically promoting uniform Zn deposition and suppressing dendritic growth. Meanwhile, the conductive fabric ensures structural flexibility and continuous electronic conduction. As a result, the assembled NiM@Zn||I 2 full cell retains 67.5% of its capacity after 2500 cycles, and the symmetric cell demonstrates stable cycling for over 400 h significantly outperforming unmodified zinc anode systems. This study offers a simple yet effective interface engineering strategy for constructing dendrite-free and mechanically robust flexible zinc anodes.