Research Progress in Optimization Strategies for Alkaline Zinc Battery Negative Electrode: Additives and Surface Coatings

Abstract

The alkaline zinc batteries (AZBs) occupy a very important position in the field of electrochemical energy storage. However, as one of the most important components in AZBs, the zinc electrode suffers from a series of problems and challenges, which greatly deteriorates the capacity and cycle life of AZBs. In this paper, the working principle of alkaline zinc electrodes was introduced, and existing problems (such as hydrogen evolution corrosion, surface passivation, and dendrite growth) and their mechanisms were analyzed in depth. The research progress on the optimization of alkaline zinc electrodes by applying additives and surface coating strategies was highlighted. The advantages, remaining problems and development trends of these two strategies were pointed out. Finally, the future research focuses and main directions of alkaline zinc electrodes were proposed to provide important references for the research and development of negative electrode of AZBs.

Keywords

• alkaline zinc battery|zinc negative electrode|additive|surface coating|research progress