Alkaline
zinc–air batteries are promising energy storage
technologies with the advantages of low cost, ecological friendliness,
and high energy density. However, the rechargeable zinc–air
battery has not been used on a commercial scale because the zinc electrode
suffers from critical problems such as passivation, dendrite growth,
and hydrogen evolution reaction, which limit the practical applications
of zinc–air batteries. Herein, the Perspective summaries the
solutions to minimize the negative effects of zinc electrodes on discharge
performance, cycling life, and shelf life. The future direction of
academic research based on current studies of the existing challenges
is proposed.
With the low redox potential of −3.04 V (vs SHE) and ultrahigh theoretical capacity of 3862 mAh g −1 , lithium metal has been considered as promising anode material. However, lithium metal battery has ever suffered a trough in the past few decades due to its safety issues. Over the years, the limited energy density of the lithium-ion battery cannot meet the growing demands of the advanced energy storage devices. Therefore, lithium metal anodes receive renewed attention, which have the potential to achieve high-energy batteries. In this review, the history of the lithium anode is reviewed first. Then the failure mechanism of the lithium anode is analyzed, including dendrite, dead lithium, corrosion, and volume expansion of the lithium anode. Further, the strategies to alleviate the lithium anode issues in recent years are discussed emphatically. Eventually, remaining challenges of these strategies and possible research directions of lithium-anode modification are presented to inspire innovation of lithium anode.
The development of efficient and low-cost flexible metal electrodes is significant for flexible rechargeable zinc−air batteries (ZABs). Herein, we reported a new type of flexible metal (zinc and nickel) electrode fabricated via a two-step deposition method on polyurethane sponges (PUS) for flexible ZABs. Compared to conventional electrodes, the metal-coated PUS electrodes exhibited great flexibility, softness, and natural mechanical resilience. In addition, a flexible sandwich-structured ZAB was assembled with the metal-coated PUS electrodes and in situ cross-linked polyacrylic acid (PAA)−KOH hydrogel electrolyte. The flexible ZAB presented stable discharge/charge performance even under complex rolling and twisting deformations. Moreover, inspired by the kirigami-strategy for device-level stretchability, a 100% stretchable fence-shaped ZAB and a 160% stretchable serpentine-shaped ZAB were cut from the abovementioned flexible ZABs. The kirigami-inspired configuration enabled the battery performance to be stable during stretching, benefiting from the softness of the PUS@metal electrode. These flexible and stretchable ZABs would broaden the promising applications for portable and wearable energy storage devices.
Energy and environmental issues received widespread attentions due to the fast growth of world population and rapid development of social economy. As a transition metal dichalcogenide, tungsten disulfide (WS 2) nanomaterials make important research progress in the field of energy conversion and storage. In view of the versatile and rich microstructure of these materials, the modification and controllable synthesis of WS 2 nanomaterials also inspire a research interest. This review mainly focuses on WS 2-based nanomaterials in the application of energy conversion and storage as well as discusses some basic characteristics and modification strategies of them. Finally, the research progress of WS 2-based nanomaterials is reviewed and some prospects for future research directions are proposed. This review is expected to be beneficial to the future study of WS 2 nanomaterials used in the field of energy conversion and storage.
In
recent years, with the increasing application of lithium-ion
batteries in energy storage devices, fire accidents caused by lithium-ion
batteries have become more frequent and have arisen wide concern.
Due to the safety of aqueous electrolyte, aqueous Zn-based batteries
have attracted vast attention, among which Zn–Ni batteries
stand out by virtue of their excellent rate performance and environmental
friendliness. However, poor cycling life limits the application of
Zn–Ni batteries. To figure out the main cause, a failure analysis
of a practical Zn–Ni battery has been carried out. During the
cycling of the Zn–Ni battery, the evolution of gas, the shape
changing, and the aggregation of additive and binder of Zn anode can
be observed. Combined with the finite element analysis, we finally
reveal that the key factor of battery failure is the shape changing
of the Zn anode caused by uneven current distribution and the dissolution
of Zn. The shape changing of the Zn anode reduces the effective surface
area of anode and increases the possibility of dead Zn, which makes
the battery unable to discharge even in the presence of a large amount
of Zn. These findings are helpful to deepen the understanding of the
working and failure mechanisms of the Zn anode and provide effective
guidance for subsequent research.
Because
of their high theoretical value of volumetric energy density,
excellent rate performance, and high level of safety, zinc–nickel
batteries (ZNBs) show potential applications for uninterrupted power
supply (UPS) systems. However, despite all the advantages of ZNBs,
the commercial application of ZNBs has been prevented by their short
lifetime caused by the shape change, the corrosion, and the dendrite
formation of the Zn anode. In this work, we proposed a flexible and
durable potassium polyacrylate (PAAK)–KOH gel polymer electrolyte
(GPE) prepared in a very simple way to solve the above problems of
the Zn anode. The obtained highly porous gel electrolyte showed higher
water retention, satisfying ionic conductivity (0.918 S cm–1), and a broad electrochemical stable voltage window. By providing
a stable and homogeneous electrode/electrolyte interface for the Zn
anode, the gel electrolyte can inhibit the uneven deposition and dendrite
formation. As a result, the gel electrolyte greatly prolonged the
cycling life to 776 h. In addition, because of the considerably batter
corrosion resistance of the Zn anode in the PAAK–KOH GPE, the
ZNB with gel electrolyte also exhibited a superior shelf life of more
than 431 h and a superior cycling performance under float charge for
more than 400 h at 60 °C. This work demonstrates that the gel
electrolyte with a simple preparation method is suitable for large-scale
practical production and can be successfully used in Zn–Ni
batteries as an electrolyte exhibiting excellent performance.
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