Enhanced Copolymer Gel Modified by Dual Surfactants for Flexible Zinc-Air Batteries

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Nov 2;14(43):49109-49118. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c13625. Epub 2022 Oct 22.

Abstract

Zinc-air batteries using gels as carriers for electrolyte absorption have attracted extensive attention due to their flexibility, deformability, and high specific capacity. However, traditional mono-polymer gel electrolytes display poor mechanical properties and low ionic conductivity at wide-window temperatures. Here, the enhanced gel polymer (PAM-F/G) modified by dual surfactants is present by way of pluronic F127 and layered graphene oxide introduced into the polyacrylamide (PAM) matrix. The gel electrolyte procured by absorbing 6 M KOH exhibits improved mechanical characteristics, temperature adaptability, and a satisfactory ionic conductivity (276 mS cm-1). The results demonstrate that a flexible zinc-air battery assembled by PAM-F/G electrolyte outputs a high power density (155 mW cm-2) and can even operate reliably (>40 h) at -20 °C. These findings are available for promoting the research and popularization of flexible zinc-air batteries with high performance.

Keywords: dual surfactants; gel electrolytes; high performance; temperature adaptability; zinc−air batteries.