A Semisolid Electrolyte for Flexible Zn-Ion Batteries

• Published in: ACS applied energy materials Vol. 2; no. 9; pp. 6904 - 6910
• Main Authors: Lu, Yanying, Zhu, Tianyu, Xu, Nansheng, Huang, Kevin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 23-09-2019
• Subjects: semisolid electrolyte; three-dimensional polymeric network; flexibility; ionic conductivity; aqueous Zn-ion batteries
• ISSN: 2574-0962; 2574-0962
• DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.9b01415

Mechanically strong, ionically conductive, and operationally safe electrolytes are of paramount importance to flexible and wearable electronics. Herein, we report a three-dimensional, double-cross-linked gelatin and sodium alginate hydrogel imbibed with ZnSO4 aqueous solution as an electrolyte membrane for flexible Zn-ion batteries. We show that the designed polymer electrolyte membrane exhibits superior properties in ionic conductivity, mechanical flexibility, electrochemical stability, and compatibility with the Zn anode. The resultant Zn-ion battery outperforms the baseline liquid counterpart in capacity, rate capability, and cycle stability, making it a promising electrolyte membrane candidate for flexible batteries for wearable electronics.