Biomass Solid-State Electrolyte with Abundant Ion and Water Channels for Flexible Zinc-Air Batteries.

Abstract

Flexible zinc-air batteries are the leading candidates as the next-generation power source for flexible/wearable electronics. However, constructing safe and high-performance solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) with intrinsic hydroxide ion (OH^-) conduction remains a fundamental challenge. Herein, by adopting the natural and robust cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) as building blocks, the biomass SSEs with penetrating ion and water channels are constructed by knitting the OH^--conductive CNFs and water-retentive CNFs together via an energy-efficient tape casting. Benefiting from the abundant ion and water channels with interconnected hydrated OH^- wires for fast OH^- conduction under a nanoconfined environment, the biomass SSEs reveal the high water-uptake, impressive OH^- conductivity of 175 mS cm^-1 and mechanical robustness simultaneously, which overcomes the commonly existed dilemma between ion conductivity and mechanical property. Remarkably, the flexible zinc-air batteries assemble with biomass SSEs deliver an exceptional cycle lifespan of 310 h and power density of 126 mW cm^-2. The design methodology for water and ion channels opens a new avenue to design high-performance SSEs for batteries.