A highly compressible hydrogel electrolyte for flexible Zn-MnO₂ battery

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Polymer Science

Background:

• Flexible electronics require highly compressible energy storage devices.
• Zinc-manganese oxide (Zn-MnO2) batteries are crucial for modern flexible electronics.
• Hydrogel electrolytes are essential for stable energy output in flexible batteries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly compressible hydrogel electrolyte for flexible Zn-MnO2 batteries.
• To enhance the stability and energy output of flexible batteries under mechanical stress.
• To investigate the role of soybean protein isolate nanoparticles (SPI) in hydrogel compressibility.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized a novel hydrogel electrolyte by incorporating SPI nanoparticles into a covalently cross-linked polyacrylamide (PAAM) polymer network.
• Investigated the compressibility and energy dissipation mechanisms of the SPI/PAAM hydrogel.
• Fabricated and tested flexible Zn-MnO2 batteries using the developed hydrogel electrolyte.

Main Results:

• The SPI/PAAM hydrogel electrolyte exhibited outstanding reversible compressibility due to SPI nanoparticle aggregation and electrostatic interactions.
• The flexible Zn-MnO2 battery demonstrated a specific capacity of 299.3 mA h g-1 and 78.2% capacity retention after 500 cycles.
• The battery maintained stable power output under 96% compression strain and survived severe mechanical stress (bending, hammering).

Conclusions:

• The developed compressible hydrogel electrolyte significantly improves the performance and durability of flexible Zn-MnO2 batteries.
• This hydrogel electrolyte shows great potential for energy storage in flexible wearable electronics.
• The SPI/PAAM hydrogel offers a promising solution for robust and reliable flexible energy storage devices.