Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are expected to be the next generation of energy storage devices, but severe dendrite growth hindering the large-scale application of AZIBs. In this paper, a citric acid (CA) etching method is used to optimize zinc anode, which is referred to as CA-Zn. After citric acid etching, the zinc anode surface was exposed to a high proportion of (002) crystal planes, and the stable (002) crystal planes inhibited the formation of zinc surface by-products. Moreover, acid etching etched micro-grooves on the zinc surface, which increased the electrochemically active surface area of the zinc anode. And the plating/stripping kinetics of Zn/Zn²⁺ was enhanced. Consequently, the CA-Zn symmetric battery has a stable cycle of 550 h at 1 mA cm⁻² and 1 mAh cm⁻². AZIBs composed of CA-Zn and activated carbon showed a specific capacity of up to 83.5 mAhg⁻¹ and CE close to 100% during cycling 1500 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹. This paper explores a new method to protect zinc metal by citric acid etching, which provides a new idea for future research.

水系锌离子电池（AZIB）有望成为下一代储能装置，但严重的枝晶生长阻碍了AZIB的大规模应用。本文采用柠檬酸（CA）蚀刻法来优化锌阳极，简称CA-Zn。柠檬酸蚀刻后，锌阳极表面暴露出高比例的(002)晶面，稳定的(002)晶面抑制了锌表面副产物的形成。此外，酸蚀刻在锌表面蚀刻出微凹槽，这增加了锌阳极的电化学活性表面积。^{Zn/Zn 2+}的电镀/剥离动力学得到增强。因此，CA-Zn对称电池在1 mA cm ^-2和1 mAh cm ^-2下具有550 h的稳定循环。由CA-Zn和活性炭组成的AZIBs在0.5 A g ^{-1的电流密度下循环1500次循环期间表现出高达83.5 mAhg -1}的比容量和接近100%的CE 。本文探索了一种柠檬酸蚀刻保护锌金属的新方法，为今后的研究提供了新思路。