Effects of polyol types of polyurethane-carbonate on electrochemical properties of quasi-solid polymer electrolyte for zinc ion battery

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are promising energy storage devices that provide effective performance in engineering applications. However, typical ZIBs contain aqueous electrolytes, which significantly cause the depletion of their zinc anode. To address this issue, quasi-solid polymer electrolytes (QSPEs) have been developed to reduce the liquid contained in battery cells. In this study, QSPEs were prepared via an electrospinning technique using polyurethane-carbonate/polyacrylonitrile (PUC/PAN). Different types of polyols in PUC structures were used to prepare the QSPE membranes. Consequently, PUC/PAN-based QSPE membranes exhibited the highest ionic conductivity of 5.12 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ with long-term charge–discharge cycles of 500 h. Using ammonium metavanadate as the cathode, the specific capacities of these membranes were up to 280 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹. Moreover, the morphology and physical properties of the membranes were investigated to explain the influence of the polyol structures. Thus, the developed PUC/PAN membranes show potential as viable QSPEs to mitigate the performance and safety concerns associated with ZIBs.