Zinc-Ion Batteries


 Zinc-ion rechargeable batteries have recently received much attention owing to their high abundance of zinc in natural resources, intrinsic safety, and cost-effectiveness when compared with the popular, but unsafe and expensive lithium-ion batteries. In particular, the use of mild aqueous electrolytes in zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) demonstrates a high potential for portable electronic applications and large-scale energy storage systems.  Despite the achievements made in exploring electrode materials so far, significant challenges remain at the material level and even on the whole aqueous ZIBs system.  


Anode Material 
& preparation
  • Usually, Zinc foil is employed as the anode which is available commercially
  • May need a coating (TiO2) on Zn foil surface to avoid dendrite growth via Slot-die
  •  Zn Foil            ( Protection film coating via slot-die )
Cathode Materials
& Preparation                             
  • Many materials can be employed as a cathode  ( Pls  click Pic. 1 below )
  • The oxides compounds can be made by milling (Pic. 2), pressing (Pic. 3), and sintering (Pic. 4), crushing & sieving (Pic. 5 &6)
  • Pic.1    Pic. 2   Pic. 3  Pic. 4(Pic. 5&6 )
Cathode Electrode Preparation
  • Cathode preparation is similar to the Li-ion, e.g. mixing, coating, and rolling
  • Current collectors may be used stainless steel foil or nickel foam 
  • If coating cathode slurry on Ni-foam, a vertical double side R2R coater will be needed ( Pic. 4)
  • Pic. 1  Pic. 2   Pi.c 3 Pic. 4
 Separator 
  • Usually use a thin fiberglass sheet, which is commercially available.
 Electrolyte
  • Usually water + 3 M Zn(CF3SO3)2 electrolyte, which is commercially available or easy to synthesize.
ZIB Assembling
  • ZIB battery can be assembled without dry room
  • So far the researchers found out that cylindrical cells may be more suitable for ZIB production because of the degassing problem during charging and discharging. The soft pouch cell case is not suitable for ZIB at this moment.
  • Cylindrical cell assembling procedure will be similar to the Li-Ion cell as below
                 
  Electrode Slitting     Core Roll Winding       Case grooving          Electrolyte Injection    Case Crimping       Battery Testing
 Reference articles