(Invited) Next-Generation Zinc–Air Batteries: Progresses, Challenges, and Perspectives

Abstract

During the past few years, flexible batteries have gained increasing interest because of their applications in wearable electronics, smart packing, flexible displays and so on. Flexible zinc-air battery is a viable and promising device, attributed to their extremely high theoretical density (1084 W h kg-1), low cost, eco-friendly nature, flat discharge voltage, and high safety. There are, however, some major obstacles that must be circumvented in order to achieve a widespread commercialization of Zn-air batteries. One of the major challenges is that rechargeable zinc-air batteries are limited by the slow kinetics for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), on which the battery efficiency, charge-discharge rate, and cycling stability are dependent. As a result, it is of paramount importance to develop highly active and stable electrodes for zinc-air battery. In this talk, we will summarize our recent work on the development of cell materials for Zn-air batteries, including zinc electrodes, electrolytes, and air electrodes. Focus will be on the discussion of electrode/electrolyte interface and its role on the battery performance and performance stability. In addition, we will discuss our perspective on limitations and opportunities for the commercialization of this technology.