Performance optimization of zinc-air batteries via nanomaterials

The depletion of fossil energy and the increasingly serious environmental deterioration have jointly promoted the research and development of new energy sources, and thus facilitated the emergence and utilization of new environmentally friendly renewable energy equipment. Zinc-air battery, as a typical representative of new green battery system, is considered as an efficient rechargeable energy device because of its special advantages such as high theoretical specific capacity, intrinsic safety and stable performance. However, zinc dendrites, corrosion, passivation, poor reversibility, the weak stability of electrolyte, slow redox reaction kinetics and other factors restrict the scale popularization of zinc-air batteries. Benefiting from their unique physical and chemical properties, nanomaterials have become a feasible alternative to make up for the shortcomings of zinc-air batteries. The research on the combination of nanomaterials and zinc-air battery have made substantial achievements in the fields of zinc electrode, electrolyte and air electrode bi-functional catalysts. In this paper, the current challenges of zinc-air batteries are taken as the starting point, combined with the typical advantages of nanomaterials, the research reports on optimizing the performance of zinc-air batteries through nanomaterials are reviewed in depth, highlighting the significant advantages of nanomaterials in improving the reversibility of zinc electrodes, enhancing electrolyte stability and improving the bi-functional catalytic activity of air electrodes. On this basis, it lays a foundation for the deep integration and further research of nanomaterials and zinc-air batteries, and puts forward the prospect for future development.