Engineering (002)‐Oriented Zn via Pulse Plating for Advanced Zn‐Ion Battery Anodes

Aqueous Zn‐ion batteries are promising energy storage systems due to their safety, low cost, environmental friendliness, and high theoretical capacity. However, there are still some limitations, such as Zn dendrite formation and side reactions, leading to poor cycling stability of Zn metal anodes. In this work, Zn anodes were fabricated on stainless steel foil using direct current and pulse current electroplating with varying duty cycles at a constant areal capacity of 5 mA·h/cm ² . It was found that Zn pulse current plating with reducing duty cycle produced a dense and uniform layer with a dominant (002) texture. It revealed a texture evolution from (101) to (103) and ultimately to (002) with decreasing duty cycle from 100% to 10%. This preferred orientation demonstrates faster Zn ²⁺ deposition kinetics, reduced charge–transfer resistance, and suppressed hydrogen evolution, resulting in effective dendrite suppression and improved electrochemical performance. Zn anodes prepared at a duty cycle of 25% exhibited uniform morphology, effective dendrite suppression, superior rate capability, and excellent cycling stability, underscoring the potential of pulse plating as a strategy for high‐performance Zn‐ion batteries.