Supramolecularly Engineered Flexible Zinc-Iodine Batteries for Wearable Electronics

Flexible aqueous zinc-iodine batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as promising candidates for the power source in wearable electronics, owing to their intrinsic safety and cost-effectiveness. However, electrochemical and mechanical interface instability between zinc anodes and electrolytes under deformation prevent the reliable performance of AZIBs in practical applications. Here, we present a synergistic supramolecular interactions engineering strategy utilizing hydrogen bonding, ion-dipole, and coordination interactions to enhance interfacial stability by creating a polyacrylamide-trehalose- dimethylglycine (PATT) hydrogel electrolyte with strengthened interfacial adhesion, reduced water activity, and facilitated ion transport. With PATT, Zn||ZnI₂ cell delivers an areal capacity of 4.2 mAh cm^{- 2} with 85.2% retention after 6000 h, while multilayer pouch cell maintains 1.2 Ah with 92.3% retention over 175 cycles. Excellent mechanical resilience and electrochemical stability of Zn||ZnI₂ cells are further observed under successive loading cycles of bending and stretching. The strain-sensing capability of PATT hydrogel is also investigated, thereby enabling the energy supply and hand motion capture with monolithic material. A smart glove for virtual reality interaction is demonstrated to highlight the potential of PATT hydrogel in achieving mechanical-robust wearable electronics.