Aqueous zinc (Zn) battery has shown its great promise as intrinsically safe battery technology. However, Zn batteries are still far from practical use, mainly due to Zn dendrite growth and side reactions. We propose a U-shaped deposition configuration to address the dendrite issue of Zn anode, which is achieved within a nanoarray of 2D metal-organic framework (MOF) flakes grown on the Zn anode. Rich zincophilic sites of the flakes enable uniform pre-seeding of Zn ions, followed by lateral deposition of Zn metal onto the MOF flakes and bottom-up plating from the anode surface, finally achieving a U-shaped deposition. The U-shaped deposition configuration is well demonstrated by simulation results in which the ion concentration and current distribution are regulated by the MOF arrays. This procedure combining pre-seeding and bottom-up deposition naturally eliminates the “tip effect” and inhibits Zn dendrite. Together with the ideal suppression of the hydrogen evolution reaction, the Zn metal anode features long cycling stability up to 1880 h at a current density of 5 mA cm⁻² and extends the long lifespan to full cells. This study demonstrates a renewed understanding of controlling Zn deposition in practical batteries and paves a new avenue toward dendrite-free metal anodes.

水系锌 (Zn) 电池作为本质安全电池技术已显示出其巨大的潜力。然而，锌电池离实际应用还很远，主要是由于锌枝晶生长和副反应。我们提出了一种 U 形沉积配置来解决锌负极的枝晶问题，这是在锌负极上生长的二维金属有机框架 (MOF) 薄片的纳米阵列中实现的。薄片的丰富的亲锌位点使锌离子能够均匀地预晶种，然后将锌金属横向沉积到 MOF 薄片上，并从阳极表面自下而上电镀，最终实现 U 形沉积。通过模拟结果很好地证明了 U 形沉积配置，其中离子浓度和电流分布由 MOF 阵列调节。这种结合预播种和自下而上沉积的过程自然消除了“尖端效应”并抑制了锌枝晶。连同对析氢反应的理想抑制，锌金属负极在 5 mA cm 的电流密度下具有长达 1880 小时的长循环稳定性^-2并将长寿命延长至完整的电池。这项研究展示了对控制实际电池中锌沉积的新认识，并为无枝晶金属负极开辟了一条新途径。