Carbon materials in current zinc ion energy storage devices towards sustainability

Emerging energy storage devices are vital approaches towards peak carbon dioxide emissions. Zinc-ion energy storage devices (ZESDs), including zinc ion capacitors and zinc ion batteries, are being intensely pursued due to their abundant resources, economic effectiveness, high safety, and environmental friendliness. Carbon materials play their important role in the development of ZESDs, from cathode, electrolyte, to metallic Zn anode. Though thrilling development has been achieved in ZESDs, they still face the challenges of unsatisfactory capacity and kinetics for cathode, and irreversibility and low utilization rate of Zn anode. Hence, the roles of carbon materials in ZESDs are systematically discussed, starting with investigating carbons with different dimensions as cathodes and the corresponding strategies to improve their performance. Also, carbons as coatings or skeletons for other types of cathode materials are introduced. Besides, the functions of carbons in electrolyte development are explored. Further, the influence of carbon materials on Zn anode is elucidated with the corresponding operational mechanisms. Finally, an outlook for carbon materials in ZESDs is provided. We envision the presented minireview can pay way on exploring novel carbon research towards next-generation energy storage technologies. © The Author(s) 2024.