A Flexible Quasi‐Solid‐State Bifunctional Device with Zinc‐Ion Microbattery and Photodetector

Abstract

The development of flexible and wearable electronics has raised the demand for their power sources, which will be not only adequately compact, but also integrated on one flexible substrate. Therefore, microscale batteries with high flexibility and performance are desired to meet the requirement for miniaturizing energy storage devices and integrating them with other flexible electronics together. Here, a flexible quasi‐solid‐state bifunctional system with zinc‐ion microbattery and photodetector was designed based on polyaniline and Zn microelectrodes. The bifunctional device not only displays the intrinsic behavior of microscale zinc‐ion batteries with excellent energy and power densities, but also has the ability of photodetection. Furthermore, such bifunctional devices with desired sizes and shapes can be designed in series or in parallel on one chip to output enhanced voltage or current without external connection. More importantly, owing to the ultrathin thickness and unique all‐in‐one architecture, the bifunctional device can remain stable electrochemical performance and photocurrent response even under bending states. The novel design of such flexible bifunctional systems would pave a way for integrating energy storage devices and other electronics into flexible systems.

Realizing an All‐Round Hydrogel Electrolyte toward Environmentally Adaptive Dendrite‐Free Aqueous Zn–MnO2 Batteries

“…When the temperature changes to 60, −20, and −40 °C, our battery can deliver 113%, 91.9%, and 72.9% on average of the energy density at 20 °C, respectively. Notably, the performance of our battery at −40 °C surpasses that of a previously reported Li thin‐film battery (7.9 mWh cm –3 at 1.5 mW cm –3 ) [ 37 ] and that of almost all AZIBs (probably evaluated at 20 or 25 °C), such as a MnO x @Ti 3 C 2 T x AZIB (22 mWh cm –3 at 25 mW cm –3 ), [ 38 ] a polyaniline AZIB (49.2 mWh cm –3 at 140 mW cm –3 ), [ 39 ] a CNT/α‐MnO 2 AZIB (32.7 mWh cm –3 at 65.4 mW cm –3 ), [ 9c ] a δ‐MnO 2 AZIB (35.1 mWh cm –3 at 65.8 mW cm –3 ), [ 7a ] a MoO 3 AZIB (14.4 mWh cm –3 at 48 mW cm –3 ), [ 40 ] and a graphene/V 2 O 5 AZIB (21 mWh cm –3 at 526 mW cm –3 ). [ 2b ] The above results further corroborate the excellent electrochemical performance and environmental adaptability of our battery.…”

Fabrications of High‐Performance Planar Zinc‐Ion Microbatteries by Engraved Soft Templates

“…As summarized in Figure 5i, the developed ZIMB from the engraved soft template can deliver a maximum energy density of 322 μWh cm −2 and the power density of 710 μW cm −2 , manifesting the superior areal energy density and power density compared with other reported planar MESDs. [2,[23][24][25][37][38][39][40][41][42]…”

“…There have been numerous cathode materials reported, such as vanadium-based compounds, [19] manganese-based compounds, [22,26] Prussian blue analogs, [20] chevrel phase compounds, [27] and organic cathodes. [24,25] Among them, MnS, as a new type of Mnbased compounds, has rarely been reported in ZIMB applications. Previous studies have shown high specific capacity and low costs of the MnS for Zn ion battery applications, but met problems of poor cycling stabilities.…”

“…[ 24 ] Other methods were also reported for ZIMB fabrications such like electrodeposition. [ 25 ] These progresses promote quick developments of ZIMB designs and researches toward advanced and practical miniaturized energy storages.…”

Flexible Zn‐ion batteries based on manganese oxides: Progress and prospect

“…In comparison with other energy storage systems, such as supercapacitors, Ni-MH, and LIBs as shown in Figure 2, the above merits, such as relatively higher energy density and power density, promote the upsurge of the research and application of ZIBs in flexible devices. 26,27,[38][39][40] Flexible ZIBs hold great potential for wearable applications taking advantages of their specific properties including superior flexibility, adaptability to deformation, and compatibility with the traditional textile industry as shown in Figure 1B. Currently, a series of flexible ZIBs with both energy storage performance and mechanical robustness have been reported.…”