Abstract
Aqueous zinc batteries (AZBs) hold great potential for green grid-scale energy storage due to their affordability, resource abundance, safety, and environmental friendliness. However, their practical deployment is hindered by challenges related to the electrode, electrolyte, and interface. Functional hydrogels offer a promising solution to address such challenges owing to their broad electrochemical window, tunable structures, and pressure-responsive mechanical properties. In this review, the key properties that functional hydrogels must possess for advancing AZBs, including mechanical strength, ionic conductivity, swelling behavior, and degradability, from a perspective of the full life cycle of hydrogels in AZBs are summarized. Current modification strategies aimed at enhancing these properties and improving AZB performance are also explored. The challenges and design considerations for integrating functional hydrogels with electrodes and interface are discussed. In the end, the limitations and future directions for hydrogels to bridge the gap between academia and industries for the successful deployment of AZBs are discussed. © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2416345 |
| Journal | Advanced Materials |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Online published - 10 Dec 2024 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
L.M. and G.L. contributed equally to this work. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Divyani Gupta for her help in manuscript revision. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (FL210100050 Z.G. DE240100159 S.Z.). G.L. was supported by scholarships from the China Scholarship Council (Grant No. 202006750014 G.L.). B.Z. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22279011).
Research Keywords
- aqueous zinc-batteries
- full life cycle
- hydrogels
- interface
- multifunctionality