Zinc-ion batteries: Drawbacks, opportunities, and optimization performance for sustainable energy storage

In order to effectively utilize and distribute renewable energy sources and address the energy storage problem, creating highly efficient energy storage and conversion technologies is crucial. Zinc is essential to renewable energy sources. Apart from its contribution to solar panels and wind turbines, it can potentially facilitate the development of low-cost, environmentally friendly energy storage methods. About Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs), their high zinc content, ease of assembly, and safety provide promising large-scale energy storage applications. A motivation to the opportunities and the challenges for ZIBs as a third of the world market for batteries comprises technologies based on zinc. Because of the importance of the desolvation kinetics role, the intricate process of desolvation of hydrated zinc ions has been identified as a pivotal aspect affecting the kinetics of electrode reactions within aqueous (ZIBs). Research on zinc anode modification, cathode material design, and electrolyte development and optimization have been widely reported. Significant problems include zinc dendrites, the hydrogen evolution process (HER), and corrosion and passivation caused by the thermodynamic instability of the zinc anode. Low Coulombic Efficiency (CE) is caused by side reactions that deplete the electrolyte and zinc anode. Herein, the article will discuss the underlying drawbacks of ZIB's performance and recent solutions to optimize its performance. How to Improve specific capacity, rate capability, cyclic stability, and output voltage is also discussed in detail.