Electrolyte Strategies at Extreme Temperatures for Aqueous Zinc Batteries

This paper reviews the challenges and strategies for improving the performance of water-based zinc-ion batteries under extreme temperature conditions. Four main electrolyte strategies are reviewed: additive/cosolvent, concentrated electrolyte, hydrogel electrolyte and organic solvent-based non-aqueous electrolyte. Research directions for the future include combining multiple strategies and developing new materials to further improve battery performance and safety in extreme environments.

Abstract

The state of aqueous zinc batteries at extreme temperature environment is an important parameter for their widespread application. However, low ionic conductivity and sluggish ionic diffusion at low temperature, and aggravated untoward reactions in the interface of electrode-electrolyte at high temperature, seriously limit the practical application of zinc-ion batteries. Currently, numerous zinc-ion batteries capable of operating within a broad temperature range have been proposed. Herein, the reason of the performance decline at extreme temperature is discussed from the perspective of thermodynamics and dynamics. Then, from the additives/co-solvents, high concentration salts, hydrogels and other aspects, the main strategies of electrolyte are introduced in detail. Finally, the possible directions to further improve the high and low temperature performance of zinc-ion batteries are proposed. It is hoped that this review will be helpful to the design and manufacture of wide temperature zinc-ion battery electrolyte and provide reference for the application of rechargeable zinc-ion battery in extreme environment.

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