Driven by the urgent need for safe, large-scale energy storage, zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are gaining momentum as a “post-lithium” alternative. Their appeal lies in intrinsic safety, environmental compatibility, and high theoretical capacity. Yet commercial progress remains constrained by interfacial instability: zinc dendrites can grow unpredictably, parasitic side reactions such as corrosion and hydrogen evolution can accelerate degradation, and cathode materials can dissolve over cycling.
Now, a comprehensive review in ENGINEERING Energy argues that atomic layer deposition (ALD) can directly address these bottlenecks by rethinking battery interfaces at the atomic scale. The authors emphasize ALD’s ability to produce sub-nanometer, highly conformal coatings on complex electrodes—an essential capability for protecting reactive components in aqueous environments.
Unlike conventional coatings that merely add physical separation, the review highlights a shift toward multifunctional interphases capable of actively regulating electrochemical reactions. This includes designing layers that suppress undesirable nucleation pathways, improve charge-transfer conditions, and steer zinc deposition to more stable regimes.
On the anode side, ALD can create uniform, pinhole-free protective films that limit direct contact between metallic zinc and electrolyte water. By reducing pathways for corrosion and hydrogen evolution (HER), these coatings also offer mechanical resistance to dendrite penetration, slowing the chain of failures that typically occurs after repeated plating/stripping.
Crucially, the review distinguishes passive barriers from chemically interactive, “zincophilic” layers such as ZnO, SnO₂, and Fe₂O₃. These materials can lower zinc nucleation overpotentials and promote preferential growth along specific crystallographic orientations, including the Zn (002) basal plane—an approach aimed at eliminating dendrites at their source rather than merely containing them.
The cathode is treated as another interface engineering frontier. High-capacity cathode chemistries based on vanadium- and manganese-containing oxides are vulnerable to dissolution and structural collapse. ALD coatings are presented as an “exoskeleton” that stabilizes active species and mitigates interfacial degradation while preserving electrochemical performance.
Beyond electrodes, ALD-enabled strategies extend to separators. The review discusses using metal-organic framework (MOF) materials, such as ZIF-8, to act as molecular sieves that promote selective Zn²⁺ transport while restricting bulky reactive species and free water. This structural regulation can reduce parasitic processes and extend cycle life.
Finally, the article confronts scalability. While ALD excels in precision, industrial adoption requires efficient deposition routes. The authors point to spatial ALD (S-ALD), roll-to-roll (R2R) ALD, and hybrid ALD/molecular layer deposition (MLD) approaches to balance performance with cost and manufacturability.
By mapping structure–property relationships from the atomic scale to full-cell behavior, the review offers a practical framework for designing durable, high-performance aqueous ZIBs. The message is clear: the path to grid-relevant zinc storage may depend less on new materials alone, and more on engineered interfaces that control chemistry, transport, and deposition dynamics simultaneously.
Subject of Research: Atomic layer deposition (ALD) for advanced zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs)
Article Title: Atomic layer deposition for advanced zinc-ion batteries
News Publication Date: 15-Jun-2026
Web References: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-026-1072-2
References: Huang, K., Zhang, S., Liu, Z. et al. Atomic layer deposition for advanced zinc-ion batteries. ENGINEERING Energy, 20, 10722 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-026-1072-2
Image Credits: Credit: Kaixin Huang, Shun Zhang, Zewen Liu, Tianzhu Zhang, Zongtao Lu, Bingsen Qin, Hongyao Wang, Zhenghao Li, Song Duan, Yun Zheng, Yinze Zuo, Wei Yan & Jiujun Zhang.
Keywords
Zinc-ion batteries; atomic layer deposition; interfacial engineering; dendrite suppression; corrosion and hydrogen evolution; zincophilic interphases; cathode stabilization; metal-organic frameworks (MOFs); spatial ALD; roll-to-roll ALD
