A zinc ion yarn battery with high capacity and fire retardancy based on a SiO2 nanoparticle doped ionogel electrolyte

Zinc Chemistries of Hybrid Electrolytes in Zinc Metal Batteries: From Solvent Structure to Interfaces

Along with the booming research on zinc metal batteries (ZMBs) in recent years, operational issues originated from inferior interfacial reversibility have become inevitable. Presently, single-component electrolytes represented by aqueous solution, "water-in-salt," solid, eutectic, ionic liquids, hydrogel, or organic solvent system are hard to undertake independently the task of guiding the practical application of ZMBs due to their specific limitations. The hybrid electrolytes modulate microscopic interaction mode between Zn2+ and other ions/molecules, integrating vantage of respective electrolyte systems. They even demonstrate original Zn2+ mobility pattern or interfacial chemistries mechanism distinct from single-component electrolytes, providing considerable opportunities for solving electromigration and interfacial problems in ZMBs. Therefore, it is urgent to comprehensively summarize the zinc chemistries principles, characteristics, and applications of various hybrid electrolytes employed in ZMBs. This review begins with elucidating the chemical bonding mode of Zn2+ and interfacial physicochemical theory, and then systematically elaborates the microscopic solvent structure, Zn2+ migration forms, physicochemical properties, and the zinc chemistries mechanisms at the anode/cathode interfaces in each type of hybrid electrolytes. Among of which, the scotoma and amelioration strategies for the current hybrid electrolytes are actively exposited, expecting to provide referenceable insights for further progress of future high-quality ZMBs.

Recent Advancements in Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Flexible Energy Storage Applications

Since the last decade, the need for deformable electronics exponentially increased, requiring adaptive energy storage systems, especially batteries and supercapacitors. Thus, the conception and elaboration of new deformable electrolytes becomes more crucial than ever. Among diverse materials, gel polymer electrolytes (hydrogels, organogels, and ionogels) remain the most studied thanks to the ability to tune the physicochemical and mechanical properties by changing the nature of the precursors, the type of interactions, and the formulation. Nevertheless, the exploitation of this category of electrolyte as a possible commercial product is still restrained, due to different issues related to the nature of the gels (ionic conductivity, evaporation of filling solvent, toxicity, etc.). Therefore, this review aims to resume different strategies to tailor the properties of the gel polymer electrolytes as well as to provide recent advancements in the field toward the elaboration of deformable batteries and supercapacitors.

Recent progress in structural modification of polymer gel electrolytes for use in solid-state zinc-ion batteries

Zinc-ion batteries are one of the promising energy storage devices, which have the advantages of environmental friendliness, high safety and low price and are expected to be used in large-scale battery application fields. However, four prominent water-induced adverse reactions, including zinc dendrite formation, zinc corrosion, passivation and the hydrogen evolution reaction in aqueous systems, seriously shorten the cycling life of zinc-ion batteries and greatly hinder their development. Based on this, polymer gel electrolytes have been developed to alleviate these issues due to their unique network structure, which can reduce water activity and suppress water-induced side reactions. Based on the challenges of polymer gel electrolytes, this review systematically summarizes the latest research progress in the use of additives in them and explores new perspectives in response to the existing problems with polymer electrolytes. In order to expand the performance of polymer gel electrolytes in zinc-ion batteries, a range of different types of additives are added via physical/chemical crosslinking, such as organic or inorganic substances, natural plants, etc. In addition, different types of additives and polymerization crosslinking from different angles essentially improve the ionic conductivity of the gel electrolyte, inhibit the growth of zinc dendrites, and reduce hydrogen evolution and oxygen-absorbed corrosion. After these modifications of polymer gel electrolytes, a more stable and superior electrochemical performance of zinc-ion batteries can be obtained, which provides some strategies for solid-state zinc-ion batteries.

Organic electrochromic energy storage materials and device design

While not affecting electrochemical performance of energy storage devices, integrating multi-functional properties such as electrochromic functions into energy storage devices can effectively promote the development of multifunctional devices. Compared with inorganic electrochromic materials, organic materials possess the significant advantages of facile preparation, low cost, and large color contrast. Specifically, most polymer materials show excellent electrochemical properties, which can be widely used in the design and development of energy storage devices. In this article, we focus on the application of organic electrochromic materials in energy storage devices. The working mechanisms, electrochemical performance of different types of organics as well as the shortcomings of organic electrochromic materials in related devices are discussed in detail.

Silica Nanoparticles Reinforced Ionogel as Nonvolatile and Stretchable Conductors

Ionogels combine the advantages of being conductive, stretchable, transparent and nonvolatile, which makes them suitable to be applied as conductors for flexible electronic devices. In this paper, a series of ionogels based on 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl-sulfate ([C₂mim][EtSO₄]) and polyacrylic networks were prepared. Silica nanoparticles (SNPs) were dispersed into the ionogel matrix to enhance its mechanical properties. The thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of the ionogels with various contents of crosslinking agents and SNPs were studied. The results show that a small amount of SNP doping just increases the breaking strain/stress and the nonvolatility of ionogels, as well as maintaining adequate conductivity and a high degree of transparency. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrate that SNP-reinforced ionogels can be applied as conductors for dielectric elastomer actuators and stretchable wires, as well as for signal transmission.