A brief overview of secondary zinc anode development: The key of improving zinc-based energy storage systems

Abstract

Summary Electricity will increasingly be produced from sources that are geographically decentralized and/or intermittent in their nature. In consequents, there is an urgent need to increase the storage of energy to guarantee the continuity of energy supply. Rechargeable zinc‐air battery is a promising technology due to the high theoretical energy density and the abundant and environmentally benign materials that are used. In the state of the art, the information about secondary zinc anode for rechargeable zinc‐air batteries is scarce. The main development of the technology has been lately concentrated on the bifunctional air electrodes while the used zinc anode is mainly based on a planar zinc electrode providing low specific energy densities for the full system. This overview compiles the available information in the literature regarding the development and manufacturing of zinc anodes for electrical rechargeable batteries applications, where secondary porous zinc electrodes are generally desired. In this context, the zinc‐based anode electrode composition (namely, active material, binder, conductive material, current collector, and additives), pretreatments, and processing techniques are described and their impact on the zinc anode performance analyzed.

Recent Advances in Materials and Design of Electrochemically Rechargeable Zinc–Air Batteries

“…Because O 2 is not stored in rechargeable Zn–air batteries, Zn electrodes play a critical role in determining the total energy storage capacity of those batteries. High‐performance Zn electrodes are expected to have a high material utilization to assure large battery capacity and good reversibility . We start this section with an introduction of three phenomena that restrict the performance of Zn electrodes, followed by a detailed summary of recent studies devoted to managing them.…”

Deposition of Zinc Species in 3D Structured Zinc Anodes in Nonstirred Alkaline Systems Observed by X‐Ray Micro Tomography

“…Zinc‐based batteries have been a focus of research since decades . Nowadays, while lithium‐ion batteries benchmark the performance characteristics for mobile applications, zinc–air batteries are still a possible alternative, e.g., stationary applications .…”

Fabrication of Zinc Anodes for Aqueous Lithium‐Ion Batteries by Supersonic Cold Spraying

“…[1,2] These desirable properties include high zinc metal specific capacity of 820 mA h g À 1 , [3] high electrical conductivity, [4] low cost, [5] non-toxicity, [6] and suitable redox potential (À 0.76 V vs. SHE) in aqueous electrolytes. [1,2] These desirable properties include high zinc metal specific capacity of 820 mA h g À 1 , [3] high electrical conductivity, [4] low cost, [5] non-toxicity, [6] and suitable redox potential (À 0.76 V vs. SHE) in aqueous electrolytes.…”

“…[1,2] These desirable properties include high zinc metal specific capacity of 820 mA h g À 1 , [3] high electrical conductivity, [4] low cost, [5] non-toxicity, [6] and suitable redox potential (À 0.76 V vs. SHE) in aqueous electrolytes. [1] Many of the most commonly used methods to prepare porous zinc anode requires the use of polymeric binders, [1] which can reduce the amount of active zinc material, and also impede with electronic and ionic transfer. [1] Many of the most commonly used methods to prepare porous zinc anode requires the use of polymeric binders, [1] which can reduce the amount of active zinc material, and also impede with electronic and ionic transfer.…”