Engineering Robust Electrode‐Electrolyte Interface by Adhesive Gel Polymer Electrolytes for CO <sub>2</sub> ‐Tolerant Flexible Zinc‐Air Batteries
As an emerging energy storage device, flexible zinc-air batteries (FZABs) have garnered significant attention due to their high energy density, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, FZABs, being a special type of semi-open system, suffer from CO<sub>2</sub> corrosion in strongly alkaline electrolyte environments, which leads to rapid degradation of battery performance and severely hinders the widespread application of FZABs. Herein, a novel polycationic backbone was constructed via free radical copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) and 3-(methacryloylamino)propyltrimethylammonium chloride (MAPTAC). By incorporating gelatin, a highly viscous and strongly adhesive MPTA-G gel polymer electrolyte (GPEs) was developed. The optimal MPTA-G0.15 GPE achieves an ionic conductivity as high as 282 mS cm<sup>-1</sup> and can effectively inhibit the growth of zinc dendrites. Moreover, the FZAB based on the MPTA-G0.15 GPE shows excellent electrochemical performance and favorable tolerance to CO<sub>2</sub>. Consequently, the synthesis of highly viscous and adhesive GPEs based on a gelatin-reinforced strategy paves the way for developing FZABs with superior interfacial stability and CO<sub>2</sub> resistance in strongly alkaline electrolytes.
Authors
- Yang Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1069-2157)
- Heng Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0103-2173)
- Jianrong Liang
- Ziran You
- Yachu Song
- Yize Song
- Da Lei
- Zhengzheng Li
Institutions
- Tianjin University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Nankai University (CN)
- Fudan University (CN)
- China National Salt Industry Corporation (China) (CN)
- Ministry of Education (PT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2026-01-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202514532
- Primary Topic
- Advanced battery technologies research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00