Rechargeable Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries with Mild Electrolytes: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Prof. Jiang's research focuses on energy storage devices, including lithium, sodium, and zinc ion batteries, which are supported by NSFC and major basic research projects of Shandong natural science foundations. Figure 1. a) Diagram of potential-pH value (Pourbaix diagram) of Zn in aqueous solutions. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [25]. Copyright 2015, Wiley-VCH. b) Discharge mechanism of a ZnÀ MnO 2 alkaline battery depicting main side reactions on both electrodes. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [16]. Copyright 2004, American Chemical Society. c) In situ images of electro-plated zinc deposits in a 0.3 cm s À 1 flowing KOH aqueous electrolyte at deposition potential of À 2.55 V. The red parts highlight new Zn deposits growing during the time intervals. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [27].

NaTi2(PO4)3 Solid‐State Electrolyte Protection Layer on Zn Metal Anode for Superior Long‐Life Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries

“…Continued uneven deposition can lead to variations in localized current density, resulting in large overpotential and zinc dendrites growth. [3] The severe zinc dendrites growth can cause penetration of the separator and short circuiting of the battery passable fence" on the surface of Zn metal anode, which can make the deposition of zinc ion refined and uniform. By means of the 20-25 µm NTP coating, the Zn/Zn 2+ cycling demonstrates a lifespan up to 260 h at the current density of 1 mA cm −2 .…”

“…Continued uneven deposition can lead to variations in localized current density, resulting in large overpotential and zinc dendrites growth. [ 3 ] The severe zinc dendrites growth can cause penetration of the separator and short circuiting of the battery system. [ 4 ] Meanwhile, the side reaction can lead to serious capacity fading.…”

Understanding the Design Principles of Advanced Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Battery Cathodes: From Transport Kinetics to Structural Engineering, and Future Perspectives

“…[30,97] However, many previous works have indicated that the storage mechanism in AZIBs would be also greatly influenced by the properties of aqueous electrolyte, such as pH value, and the species of additive and Zn-salts, thus making the actual reaction process more complicated, and many controversial issues are still remaining. [99][100][101] Excepting the Zn 2+ , H + would also exists in the acidic electrolyte, such result would lead to a competitive reaction mechanism between Zn 2+ and H + during the charging and discharging process. [102] Until now, several types of mainstream storage mechanisms have been formally proposed, which can be included as follows: 1) Zn 2+ insertion/extraction mechanism; 2) ions/molecules co-insertion/extraction mechanism; 3) H + insertion/extraction mechanism; and 4) conversion reaction mechanism.…”

Conversion‐Type Nonmetal Elemental Tellurium Anode with High Utilization for Mild/Alkaline Zinc Batteries

“…Moreover, we compared the utilization of anode of Te/MnO 2 and Te/Ni(OH) 2 batteries with other ZIBs; the high utilization of Te anode achieved (50.1% for the mild system and 38.9% for the alkaline system) is remarkably higher than Zn anode in various ZIBs (Figure 5h and Table S1, Supporting Information). [16,27,36,44] We also compared the performance of Te/MnO 2 and Te/Ni(OH) 2 batteries with other ZIBs, including normal Zn metal batteries and non-Zn metal batteries in terms of cycle life and capacity (based on the total mass of anode and cathode), which is shown in Figure 5i. [16][17][18]44] Apparently, long cycling life and high capacity achieved by the Te anode is superior to conventional ZIBs with Zn metal as anode (capacity < 60 mAh g −1 anode+cathode ).…”