Encapsulating Zinc Powder in MXene/Silk Scaffolds with Zincophilic-Hydrophobic Polymer for Flexible Zinc-Ion Batteries

AbstractFlexible zinc‐ion batteries (FZIBs) offer great promise for wearable energy storage systems due to their safety, environmental friendliness, and low cost. Zinc powder (ZnP) stands out as a promising anode material for FZIBs due to its high surface area, low cost, and good compatibility. However, it suffers from dendrite formation, severe corrosion, and poor structural integrity. Here, a high‐performance flexible zinc anode is reported by encapsulating ZnP within a thermoplastic polycarbonate‐based polyurethane (TPCU) matrix featuring zincophilic and hydrophobic properties and integrating it with a MXene‐coated silk fabric (MXS) current collector. The synergistic integration of TPCU and MXS enables uniform and dendrite‐free Zn deposition, suppresses corrosion, and provides excellent mechanical flexibility. The resulting flexible anode achieves long cycling stability exceeding 2500 h at 1 mA cm−2 for 1 mAh cm−2 and a Coulombic efficiency of 99.75% at 5 mA cm−2 for 1 mAh cm−2. When paired with a flexible cathode, the fabricated FZIB delivers stable performance to power devices under continuous mechanical deformations, highlighting its potential for flexible energy storage applications. This work presents a feasible approach for constructing robust ZnP‐based anodes for the development of next‐generation FZIBs.