Zn-ion
energy storage devices employing hydrogel electrolytes are
considered as promising candidates for flexible and wearable electronics
applications. This is because of their safe nature, low cost, and
good mechanical characteristics. However, conventional hydrogel electrolytes
face limitation at subzero temperatures. Herein, we report an antifreezing,
safe, and nontoxic gel electrolyte based on the poly(vinyl alcohol)
(PVA)/Zn/ethylene glycol system. The optimal gel electrolyte membrane
exhibits a high ionic conductivity (15.03 mS cm–1 at room temperature) and promising antifreezing performance (9.05
mS cm–1 at −20 °C and 3.53 mS cm–1 at −40 °C). Moreover, the antifreezing
gel electrolyte can suppress the growth of Zn dendrites to display
a uniform Zn plating/stripping behavior. Also, a flexible antifreezing
Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitor fabricated with the optimum antifreezing
gel electrolyte membrane exhibits excellent electrochemical properties.
The supercapacitor possesses a high specific capacity of 247.7 F g–1 at room temperature under a high working voltage
of 2 V. It also displays an outstanding cyclic stability at room temperature.
Moreover, the supercapacitor shows an extraordinary electrochemical
behavior and cyclic stability over up to 30 000 cycles at −20 °C under a current load of 5 A g–1, demonstrating its outstanding low-temperature electrochemical performance.
Besides, the antifreezing supercapacitor device also offers high flexibility
under different deformation conditions. Therefore, it is believed
that this work provides a simplistic method of realizing the application
of flexible antifreezing Zn-ion energy storage devices in a subzero-temperature
environment.
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