Aqueous electrolyte additives for zinc-ion batteries

Abstract

Due to the advantages of high safety, low cost, and high volumetric specific capacity, zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are considered a promising candidate for next-generation energy storage devices, especially showing great potential in large-scale energy storage. Despite these advantages, ZIBs still suffer many problems, such as zinc dendrites, hydrogen evolution, zinc anode corrosion, etc., which significantly reduce the Coulombic efficiency and reversibility of zinc, and limit the long cycle lifespan, bringing much uncertainty for practical application. In recent years, electrolyte additives, as an effective technique, have been proposed by researchers to solve the above issues. This review mainly focuses on electrolyte additives and discusses different substances as electrolyte additives to alleviate the above problems by altering the original Zn2+ solvation structure, constructing a protective layer at the anode/electrolyte interface, guiding the evenly Zn2+ distribution and uniform Zn deposition, etc. Finally, on this basis, the possible research strategies, development directions of electrolyte additives in the future, and the existing problems to be solved are also discussed, and some prospects and suggestions are proposed.