Freestanding 3D Metallic Micromesh for High-Performance Flexible Transparent Solid-State Zinc Batteries

Flexible transparent energy supplies are extremely essential to the fast-growing flexible electronic systems. However, the general developed flexible transparent energy storage devices are severely limited by the challenges of low energy density, safety issues, and/or poor compatibility. In this work, a freestanding 3D hierarchical metallic micromesh with remarkble optoelectronic properties (T = 89.59% and R-s = 0.23 omega sq(-1)) and super-flexibility is designed and manufactured for flexible transparent alkaline zinc batteries. The 3D Ni micromesh supported Cu(OH)(2)@NiCo bimetallic hydroxide flexible transparent electrode (3D NM@Cu(OH)(2)@NiCo BH) is obtained by a combination of photolithography, chemical etching, and electrodeposition. The negative electrode is constructed by electrodeposition of electrochemically active zinc on the surface of Ni@Cu micromesh (Ni@Cu@Zn MM). The metallic micromesh with 3D hierarchical nanoarchitecture can not only ensure low sheet resistance, but also realize high mass loading of active materials and short electron/ion transmission path, which can guarantee high energy density and high-rate capability of the transparent devices. The flexible transparent 3D NM@Cu(OH)(2)@NiCo BH electrode realizes a specific capacity of 66.03 mu Ah cm(-2) at 1 mA cm(-2) with a transmittance of 63%. Furthermore, the assembled solid-state NiCo-Zn alkaline battery exhibits a desirable energy density/power density of 35.89 mu Wh cm(-2)/2000.26 mu W cm(-2) with a transmittance of 54.34%.

Automated summary

In this work, a flexible transparent alkaline zinc battery was developed using a freestanding 3D hierarchical metallic micromesh. The battery showed remarkable optoelectronic properties and super-flexibility, solving the challenges of low energy density and safety issues that traditional flexible transparent energy storage devices face.