A promising energy storage system: rechargeable Ni–Zn battery

The sharp depletion of fossil fuel resources and its associated increasingly deteriorated environmental pollution are vital challenging energy issues, which are one of the most crucial research hot spots in the twenty-first century. Rechargeable Ni–Zn batteries (RNZBs), delivering high power density in aqueous electrolytes with stable cycle performance, are expected to be promising candidates to alleviate the current energy and environmental problems, and play an important role in green power sources. Many efforts have been focused on the investigations and improvements of RNZBs in recent decades, and it is necessary to summarize and review the achievements and challenges in this advancing field. In this paper, we review various batteries, compare and highlight the advantages of RNZBs, and introduce the recent advances in the development of electrode materials and electrolytes of RNZBs, especially the applications of novel nanostructured materials for the active electrodes. Some prospective investigation trends of RNZBs are also proposed and discussed.