This review provides a comprehensive overview about the “hidden champion” of lithium-ion battery technology – graphite.

Zn batteries have recently become of great interest as energy storage devices. However, their lifespan is limited by irreversible processes at the Zn anodes owing to side reactions and dendrite growth in a mild pH electrolyte. Herein, an artificial ZnF 2 layer on the Zn metal anode surface is developed to address these issues. Modeling results suggest that ZnF 2 can allow insertion of Zn 2+ and offers diffusion channels for the transport to/from the Zn anode via an interstitial diffusion mechanism. The artificial layer suppresses dendrite growth by guiding the Zn plating/stripping underneath the layer, thus enhancing the electrochemical performance of the anode as demonstrated by the Zn-ZnF 2 /MnO 2 full cell. The Zn anode with this artificial layer sustains long-term cycling (more than 700 h) at an areal capacity of 0.5 mAh cm −2 , and the Zn-ZnF 2 /MnO 2 full cells achieve a capacity retention of 89% after 3000 cycles.