Peng Jiaying, Song Weihao, Zhang Wei, Li Xinyu, Ma Qing, Wu Bing, Fujishige Masatsugu, Takeuchi Kenji, Endo Morinobu, Ji Chendong, Sun Yilin, Niu Jin, Wang Feng
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Laboratory of Electrochemical Process and Technology for Materials, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China.
National Engineering Research Center for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Source Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Aug 18;64(34):e202506449. doi: 10.1002/anie.202506449. Epub 2025 Jul 11.
Hydrogels are promising electrolytes for use in aqueous Zn metal batteries (AZMBs). However, the problems associated with the Zn anodes cannot be eliminated using current hydrogel electrolytes, and their poor sustainability has also been neglected. We have developed a bone-inspired hydrogel electrolyte (Zn-HA-Gel) composed of Zn-doped hydroxyapatite (Zn-HA) nanofibers and a gelatin matrix derived from animal bones. The bone-like structure and strong molecular interactions in the biodegradable, recyclable, and biocompatible components endow Zn-HA-Gel with excellent sustainability, water retention, and mechanical properties, which solves the problems currently associated with Zn anodes. Moreover, the Zn-HA superionic conductor exhibits an ultrahigh intrinsic ionic conductivity and accelerated Zn desolvation process. The dual-channels for Zn transport in Zn-HA-Gel result in high ionic conductivity (32.5 mS cm) and transference number (0.80), facilitating uniform Zn plating/stripping and durable working stability. As a result, Zn-HA-Gel ensures ultrastable cycling performance with a cumulative capacity of 5 Ah cm at 5 mA cm/5 mAh cm for Zn/Zn cells and a superior cycling performance with a capacity retention of 82.4% after 2000 cycles for full cells, surpassing the capabilities of current hydrogel electrolytes, and has potential applications in sustainable and functional energy-storage devices.
水凝胶是用于水系锌金属电池（AZMBs）的很有前景的电解质。然而，使用当前的水凝胶电解质无法消除与锌阳极相关的问题，而且它们较差的可持续性也一直被忽视。我们开发了一种受骨骼启发的水凝胶电解质（Zn-HA-Gel），它由锌掺杂的羟基磷灰石（Zn-HA）纳米纤维和源自动物骨骼的明胶基质组成。可生物降解、可回收和生物相容的成分中的类骨结构和强大的分子相互作用赋予了Zn-HA-Gel优异的可持续性、保水性和机械性能，解决了目前与锌阳极相关的问题。此外，Zn-HA超离子导体表现出超高的本征离子电导率和加速的锌去溶剂化过程。Zn-HA-Gel中锌传输的双通道导致高离子电导率（32.5 mS cm）和迁移数（0.80），有利于锌的均匀沉积/剥离和持久的工作稳定性。因此，Zn-HA-Gel确保了超稳定的循环性能，对于锌/锌电池，在5 mA cm/5 mAh cm下累积容量为5 Ah cm ，对于全电池，在2000次循环后容量保持率为82.4%，具有优异的循环性能，超越了当前水凝胶电解质的性能，并且在可持续和功能性储能装置中具有潜在应用。
