Engineering interfaces of zinc metal anode for stable batteries

•It is a timely and comprehensive review on the quick progress of Zn anode interface.•A detailed analysis of the challenges hindering stable zinc anode interface are introduced.•Strategies to tailor Zn metal anode interface are presented.•Highly stable Zn anode interface is promising for commercial applications. In recent years, zinc metal batteries (ZMBs) have become an important alternative to lithium-ion batteries due to their high energy density, high safety, and low cost. However, the development of ZMBs still encounters several challenges such as dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, corrosion, and passivation. These issues likely contribute to the instability of the zinc anode/electrolyte interface, hindering practical applications of zinc batteries. Recently, extensive research on the zinc anode/electrolyte interface has been conducted globally; therefore, a comprehensive review is warranted. Initially, this paper discusses the fundamentals of the zinc anode interface and the related issues arising from its intrinsic instability. Subsequently, it systematically summarizes various effective strategies for regulating the interface including zinc anode surface modification, electrolyte regulation, zinc anode structure design, and separator optimization. Finally, it concludes with a prospect on addressing challenges and providing perspectives for optimizing the zinc anode interface in order to achieve high-performance ZMBs.