TY - JOUR
T1 - All-in-one and bipolar-membrane-free acid-alkaline hydrogel electrolytes for flexible high-voltage Zn-air batteries
AU - Zhao, Siyuan
AU - Liu, Tong
AU - Dai, Yawen
AU - Wang, Yang
AU - Guo, Zengjia
AU - Zhai, Shuo
AU - Yu, Jie
AU - Zhi, Chunyi
AU - Ni, Meng
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is supported by a grant from Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) (Project no. C5031-20G) of Research Grant Council, University Grants Committee, HK SAR. We also thank the help from Dr. Jinhye Bae, Jiayu Zhao, and Minghao Li from University of California, San Diego.
Funding Information:
This work is supported by a grant from Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) (Project no. C5031-20G) of Research Grant Council, University Grants Committee, HK SAR. We also thank the help from Dr. Jinhye Bae, Jiayu Zhao, and Minghao Li from University of California, San Diego.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/2/15
Y1 - 2022/2/15
N2 - The low operating voltage of 1.4 V limits the widespread application of flexible Zn-air batteries (ZABs) in wearable electronics. However, a high-voltage flexible ZAB has not been achieved yet, which results from the few choices of fitted flexible electrolytes. Now we propose a novel, universal, and simple strategy to design all-in-one and membrane-free acid-alkaline flexible electrolytes based on thermo-reversible Pluronic® F127 hydrogels. Benefiting from the unique sol–gel transition property of Pluronic® F127 hydrogel, the acid and alkaline can be decoupled but integrated simultaneously in one hydrogel. Surprisingly, the as-developed ZAB achieves an unprecedentedly high voltage of 2 V, surpassing all the existing flexible ZABs. Meanwhile, this battery exhibits remarkable high-voltage stability of 37 h and a large area capacity of 1.35 mAh cm−2 without the use of costly bipolar membranes. Our work presents a pioneering example for flexible high-voltage ZAB and may further inspire other designs of flexible high-voltage aqueous batteries and decoupled dual-electrolyte batteries.
AB - The low operating voltage of 1.4 V limits the widespread application of flexible Zn-air batteries (ZABs) in wearable electronics. However, a high-voltage flexible ZAB has not been achieved yet, which results from the few choices of fitted flexible electrolytes. Now we propose a novel, universal, and simple strategy to design all-in-one and membrane-free acid-alkaline flexible electrolytes based on thermo-reversible Pluronic® F127 hydrogels. Benefiting from the unique sol–gel transition property of Pluronic® F127 hydrogel, the acid and alkaline can be decoupled but integrated simultaneously in one hydrogel. Surprisingly, the as-developed ZAB achieves an unprecedentedly high voltage of 2 V, surpassing all the existing flexible ZABs. Meanwhile, this battery exhibits remarkable high-voltage stability of 37 h and a large area capacity of 1.35 mAh cm−2 without the use of costly bipolar membranes. Our work presents a pioneering example for flexible high-voltage ZAB and may further inspire other designs of flexible high-voltage aqueous batteries and decoupled dual-electrolyte batteries.
KW - Acid-alkaline electrolyte
KW - All-in-one
KW - High-voltage
KW - Hydrogel electrolyte
KW - Thermo-reversible hydrogel
KW - Zinc-air battery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117231774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cej.2021.132718
DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2021.132718
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85117231774
SN - 1385-8947
VL - 430
JO - Chemical Engineering Journal
JF - Chemical Engineering Journal
M1 - 132718
ER -