The Aqueous Zn-CO2 battery: A route towards sustainable energy storage

In recent years, the concept of a rechargeable aqueous Zn-CO2 battery has attracted extensive attention, including a dual functionality of supplying power and simultaneously converting CO2 into value-added chemicals or fuels. The state-of-the-art research has been mainly focused on the exploration of working mechanism and catalytic cathodes, but hardly applies an integrative view. Although a large number of studies has proven the feasibility of rechargeable aqueous Zn-CO2 battery, challenges remain including the low CO2 conversion efficiency, poor battery capacity, and low energy efficiency. This review systematically summarizes the working principles and devices, and the catalytic cathodes used for Zn-CO2 battery. The challenges and prospects in this field are also elaborated, with the hope of providing insightful guidance for future development of a rechargeable aqueous Zn-CO2 battery with high performance.