Advanced polymer-based electrolytes in zinc–air batteries
Qingqing Liu,
Ruiting Liu,
Chaohui He,
Chenfeng Xia,
Wei Guo,
Zheng-Long Xu,
Bao Yu Xia
Affiliations
Qingqing Liu
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Ministry of Education), Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan, 430074, PR China
Ruiting Liu
State Key Laboratory of Ultraprecision Machining Technology, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
Chaohui He
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Ministry of Education), Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan, 430074, PR China
Chenfeng Xia
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Ministry of Education), Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan, 430074, PR China
Wei Guo
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Ministry of Education), Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan, 430074, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Zheng-Long Xu
State Key Laboratory of Ultraprecision Machining Technology, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Bao Yu Xia
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Ministry of Education), Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan, 430074, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Zinc–air batteries (ZABs) are expected to be some of the most promising power sources for wearable and portable electronic devices and have received widespread research interest. As an ion conductor connecting anodes and cathodes, the electrolyte is critical for the overall performance of ZABs (e.g., energy density, rechargeability, and operating voltage). Compared with liquid electrolytes, polymer-based electrolytes have superior characteristics for ZABs, such as negligible electrolyte leakage, three-phase interface stabilization, and dendrite suppression. In this perspective, we focus on recent progress in polymer-based electrolytes for ZABs. After a brief introduction to ZABs and electrolytes, we emphasize the development of polymer-based electrolytes in terms of their intrinsic properties and interfacial chemistry. Finally, challenges and viable strategies are proposed for polymer-based electrolytes in ZABs. We hope that this work will provide useful guidance to spur the development of high-performance ZABs based on advanced polymer-based electrolytes.
