Excellent film-forming, ion-conductive, zwitterionic graft copolymer electrolytes for solid-state supercapacitors

Nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanoboxes in zwitterionic polymer hydrogel electrolyte for superior quasi-solid-state zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors

“…To examine this aspect, the room-temperature conductivity ( σ , mS cm −1 ) of various hydrogel electrolytes was measured via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using the equation σ = L / AR , where L (cm), A (cm 2 ), and R (Ω) refer to the thickness, test area, and resistance of the obtained hydrogel electrolytes, respectively. 10,25 Based on the test results (Fig. 4j and S8a†), P(SBMA- co -AA)/Zn(CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 exhibits an excellent room-temperature ionic conductivity of 27.6 mS cm −1 (Fig.…”

“…To mitigate this issue, the study of zwitterionic PHEs has recently been attempted owing to their unique characteristics: (i) the interaction between zwitterionic groups and electrolyte ions can generate favorable channels for ion migration, ultimately enhancing the ionic conductivity of zwitterionic PHEs; (ii) the evenly distributed zwitterionic groups can restrict the local aggregation of electrolyte ions, so as to uniformly deposit Zn metal on the anode surface and inhibit the formation of disordered dendrites; (iii) the strong interaction between hydrophilic groups in the zwitterionic polymer chain with water molecules enables water molecules to be fixed on the polymer skeleton, which can reduce the occurrence of side reactions. 22–25 While having many advantages, the polymers obtained by the polymerization of pure zwitterionic monomers are usually brittle and hard to withstand mechanical deformations (tension, compression, bending, etc .) probably due to their “salt-like structure”.…”

“…22,23 To this end, flexible polymers that can provide the necessary mechanical stability are integrated to mechanically reinforce the zwitterionic polymer without significantly sacrificing its excellent conductivity, which benefits from the useful physicochemical properties of different polymers. 22,25,26 For example, Kim et al reported a zwitterionic polymer hydrogel electrolyte (PS34/H 3 PO 4 ) based on poly(vinyl alcohol)- graft -poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PVA- g -PSBMA) for supercapacitors. 25 It showed a high ionic conductivity of 7.8 mS cm −1 and a great tensile strength over 1000 kPa, which was attributed to the excellent conductivity of PSBMA and good mechanical properties of PVA.…”

“…22,25,26 For example, Kim et al reported a zwitterionic polymer hydrogel electrolyte (PS34/H 3 PO 4 ) based on poly(vinyl alcohol)- graft -poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PVA- g -PSBMA) for supercapacitors. 25 It showed a high ionic conductivity of 7.8 mS cm −1 and a great tensile strength over 1000 kPa, which was attributed to the excellent conductivity of PSBMA and good mechanical properties of PVA. In addition, the modification of the zwitterionic structure is another good enhancement strategy.…”

One‐Step Polymerizations Enable Facile Construction and Structural Optimization of Graft Copolymer Electrolytes

“…However, the preparation of multicomponent GCPE also requires tedious processes. [48,49] As the frontier of polymer synthesis, living polymerization provides the possibility for the efficient preparation of multi-component SPEs. [50][51][52][53] We have used copper-catalyzed ATRP to prepare a dense PEO chain of GCPE, highlighting the contribution of living polymerization to the construction of topological electrolytes.…”