Sodium (Na) metal batteries (NMBs) offer great potential for high-energy–density storage applications. However, their practical use remains constrained by persistent challenges such as Na dendrite growth and interfacial instability. In this work, we design and fabricate a dual-metal-sites crosslinked polymer interface on Na metal anodes, which synergistically integrates sodiophilic sites, rapid interfacial kinetics, and enhanced mechanical crosslinking. This nanoscale hybrid interface features a tunable composition, optimized sodiophilicity, and exceptional mechanical stiffness, effectively suppressing dendrite propagation and stabilizing Na deposition. Electrochemical evaluations demonstrate that the dual-metal-sites hybrid interface enables unprecedented cycling stability under high-capacity operation. Complementary insights from electro-chemo-mechanical DFT modeling and mechanistic experiments reveal that the dual-metal synergy decouples ionic transport from mechanical degradation, facilitating homogeneous Na + flux and adaptive SEI reconfiguration. By combining sodiophilic functionality with robust polymer–metal coordination, this work establishes a universal design strategy for durable, dendrite-free metal anodes, advancing the development of next-generation energy storage technologies.
Jin et al. (Fri,) studied this question.