A Comprehensive Review on Zinc-Based MOFs and Their Derivatives for Alkali-Ion Batteries: Synthesis, Applications, and Future Prospects

With the development of electrochemical energy conversion and storage, alkali-ion batteries (AIBs) have become a popular research topic due to their cost-effectiveness, high safety, and environmental friendliness. One strategy to optimize the efficiency of AIBs is to focus on the development and enhancement of their components. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as innovative functional materials, have offered great possibilities to investigate high-performance electrode materials for AIBs with advantages including compositional designability, structural diversity, and high porosity. Among all kinds of transition-metal-based MOFs, zinc-based MOFs (Zn-MOFs) have garnered significant interest because of their superior physicochemical characteristics. Herein, this review summarizes the recent applications of Zn-MOFs and their derivatives in AIBs. An overview of the synthesis strategies of pristine Zn-MOFs and their derived porous carbon materials, metal oxides, metal sulfides, and metal selenides are presented. Then, their promising applications in AIBs, i.e., lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are highlighted. Next, the paper summarizes the main charge-storage mechanisms and degradation mechanisms of Zn-MOFs and their derivatives when they are used in AIBs. Further, the research ideas on the future industrialization of Zn-MOFs-based materials are discussed. To close, the existing challenges and future opportunities are presented.