Adhesive Tape-Inspired Polymer Coatings Enable Record-Stable Zinc Anodes for High-Rate Aqueous Batteries.

ABSTRACT: The development of stable zinc anodes is critical for advancing high-rate, long-life aqueous zinc batteries. Here a tape-inspired anode modification is reported using a poly (methyl methacrylate)-grafted natural rubber (NRAc) copolymer as a conformal protective coating. The microphase-separated architecture integrates elastic, hydrophobic NR domains with Zn²⁺-coordinating PMMA nanodomains, forming mechanically adaptive and ion-selective channels. Density functional theory and microscopy reveal that Zn²⁺ preferentially binds to PMMA, lowering desolvation barriers and biasing deposition toward the stable (002) facet. This dual mechanical-chemical regulation suppresses dendrite growth and parasitic hydrogen evolution, while maintaining intimate interfacial contact under

SUBMITTER: Zhao S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12915122 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature