Advances of Zn Metal‐Free “Rocking‐Chair”‐Type Zinc Ion Batteries: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Aqueous zinc ion battery (AZIBs) has attracted the attention of many researchers because of its safety, economy, environmental protection, and high ionic conductivity of electrolytes. However, the battery greatly suffers from zinc dendrite produced by zinc metal anode leading to poor cycle life and even unsafe problems, which limit its further development for various important applications. It is known that the success of the commercialization of lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) is mainly due to replacement of lithium metal anode with graphite, which avoids the formation of Li dendrite. Therefore, it is an important step to develop aqueous zinc ion anode to replace conventional zinc metal one with zinc‐metal free anode material. In this review, the working principle and development prospect of “rocking‐chair” AZIBs are introduced. The research progress of different types of zinc metal‐free anode materials and cathode materials in “rocking‐chair” AZIBs is reviewed. Finally, the limitations and challenges of the Zn metal‐free “rocking‐chair” AZIBs as well as solutions are deeply discussed, aiming to provide new strategies for the development of advanced zinc‐ion batteries.

Design advanced lithium metal anode materials in high energy density lithium batteries

“…Lithium ion batteries made of graphite and lithium cobalt oxides are known as rocker batteries because of their electrochemical reversibility, allowing lithium ions to migrate between the anode and cathode materials with little loss [ [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] ]. Since the potential gap between anode and cathode reaches 3.7 V, the energy density of commercial lithium ion batteries has obvious advantages over low-voltage batteries such as nickel metal hydride and nickel-cadmium batteries, and almost reaches the electrochemical limit [ [41] , [42] , [43] ].…”