Thermally Healable Electrolyte‐Electrode Interface for Sustainable Quasi‐Solid Zinc‐ion Batteries

Abstract

Quasi‐solid zinc‐ion batteries using hydrogel electrolytes show great potential in energy storage devices owing to their intrinsic safety, fewer side reactions and wide electrochemical windows. However, the dendrite issues on the zinc anodes cannot be fundamentally eliminated and the intrinsic anode‐electrolyte interfacial interspace is rarely investigated. Here, we design a dynamically healable gelatin‐based hydrogel electrolyte with a highly reversible sol‐gel transition, which can construct a conformal electrode‐electrolyte interface and further evolve into a stable solid‐solid interface by in‐situ solidification. The unique helical gelatin chain structure provides a uniform channel for zinc ion transport by the bridging effect of sulfate groups. As a consequence, the dynamically healable interface enables dendrite‐free zinc anodes and repeatedly repairs the anode‐electrolyte interfacial interspaces by the reversible sol‐gel transition of gelatin electrolyte to retain long‐lasting protection for sustainable zinc‐ion batteries.

Cellulose Reinforced Eutectogel Electrolyte for Flexible Zinc-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitors

“…This excellent adhesion mainly stems from the abundant amine and hydroxyl functional groups on the surface of CPG, which can interact with different substrate surfaces via hydrogen bonding, metal complexation, hydrophobicity, etc. Therefore, CPG is conducive to the intimate contact between the electrolyte and the electrodes, thereby enhancing the electrochemical stability of the battery …”

“…Therefore, CPG is conducive to the intimate contact between the electrolyte and the electrodes, thereby enhancing the electrochemical stability of the battery. 51 The ionic conductivity of the ETG electrolyte is of great significance for ESDs. The ionic conductivities of CPG-n electrolytes are higher than PG electrolyte (0.70 mS cm −1 ) (Figure 3a and Figures S10 and 11).…”