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Rechargeable Zn metal batteries (RZMBs) have emerged as promising candidates for large-scale energy storage systems due to their high safety, environmental friendliness, and low cost. However, Zn metal anode still faces a series of side reactions, including hydrogen evolution, dendrite, corrosion, and passivation. Moreover, emerging electronic devices such as flexible electronic devices, portable electronic devices and linear energy devices, have different functional requirements for energy storage technologies, which cannot be met by conventional Zn foil anode. In the face of these challenges, designing new configuration of Zn anode is urgently needed. This review summarizes the advances of various new configuration anode materials, including three-dimensional Zn anode, 3D printed Zn anode, printed Zn anode, imprinted Zn anode, linear Zn anode and their energy storage devices. The advantages, challenges and corresponding strategies of these new configuration anode were discussed. Finally, future development directions and perspectives of these anode materials were presented.


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Advances on new configuration of zinc anode towards high-performance emerging zinc-based electronic devices

Show Author's information Yajue ZhangMingzhu LiShuquan LiangGuozhao Fang( )
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China

Yajue Zhang and Mingzhu Li contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Rechargeable Zn metal batteries (RZMBs) have emerged as promising candidates for large-scale energy storage systems due to their high safety, environmental friendliness, and low cost. However, Zn metal anode still faces a series of side reactions, including hydrogen evolution, dendrite, corrosion, and passivation. Moreover, emerging electronic devices such as flexible electronic devices, portable electronic devices and linear energy devices, have different functional requirements for energy storage technologies, which cannot be met by conventional Zn foil anode. In the face of these challenges, designing new configuration of Zn anode is urgently needed. This review summarizes the advances of various new configuration anode materials, including three-dimensional Zn anode, 3D printed Zn anode, printed Zn anode, imprinted Zn anode, linear Zn anode and their energy storage devices. The advantages, challenges and corresponding strategies of these new configuration anode were discussed. Finally, future development directions and perspectives of these anode materials were presented.

Keywords: 3D Zn anode, 3D printing anode, printed anode, imprinted anodes, linear new energy devices

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Received: 15 January 2024
Revised: 25 January 2024
Accepted: 25 January 2024
Published: 29 January 2024
Issue date: December 2023

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© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52072411), Central South University Innovation-Driven Research Programme (2023CXQD038).

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