Nanostructure Design Strategies for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

With reliable safety, environmental friendliness and cost advantage, aqueous rechargeable batteries have attracted great attention in the field of consumer electronics, static energy storage and power cells in recent decades. In particular, aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) possess a high theoretical capacity (820 mAh g(-1) and 5855 mAh cm(-3)) and low anode potential (-0.76 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode), owing to the bivalent ion migration and the high stability of zinc metal in water, resulting in a relatively satisfactory energy density for practical applications. However, AZIBs still face some challenges, such as zinc dendrite growth, narrow voltage window, active materials dissolution, poor zinc ion insertion/extraction kinetics, and so forth, largely impeding the continued progress of AZIBs. Nanostructure design strategies provide a powerful and broad research thought to effectively solve the above problems, owing to unique properties at the nanoscale. Herein, we demonstrate an overview of recent progress in AZIBs from the perspective of nanostructure design, and focus on the nanostructure engineering of cathode materials, zinc anodes and flexible gel electrolytes, giving rise to an excellent electrochemical performances of AZIBs. Finally, a brief summary for nanostructure design strategies applied in AZIBs is presented, and next research directions are proposed to inspire suggestive instructions for further research into AZIBs.