Tackling the Challenges of Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries via Polymer-Derived Strategies

Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) have gathered unprecedented interest recently benefiting from their intrinsic safety, affordability, and environmental benignity. Nevertheless, their practical implementation is hampered by low rate performance, inferior Zn2+ diffusion kinetics, and undesired parasitic reactions. Innovative solutions are put forth to address these issues by optimizing the electrodes, separators, electrolytes, and interfaces. Remarkably, polymers with inherent properties of low-density, high processability, structural flexibility, and superior stability show great promising in tackling the challenges. Herein, the recent progress in the synthesis and customization of functional polymers in aqueous ZIBs is outlined. The recent implementations of polymers into each component are summarized, with a focus on the inherent mechanisms underlying their unique functions. The challenges of incorporating polymers into practical ZIBs are also discussed and possible solutions to circumvent them are proposed. It is hoped that such a deep analysis could accelerate the design of polymer-derived approaches to boost the performance of ZIBs and other aqueous battery systems as they share similarities in many aspects.

Automated summary

Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) have gained attention for their safety, affordability, and environmental friendliness. However, their practical implementation is hindered by low rate performance, inferior Zn2+ diffusion kinetics, and undesired parasitic reactions. Innovative solutions, particularly using functional polymers, are proposed to address these challenges. This review outlines the recent progress in synthesizing and customizing polymers for aqueous ZIBs, summarizes their implementations into different components, discusses the underlying mechanisms, and proposes possible solutions for incorporating polymers into practical ZIBs.