High-entropy materials for aqueous zinc metal batteries

Abstract

To overcome the challenges raised by the utilization of intermittent clean energy, rechargeable aqueous zinc metal batteries (AZMBs) stand at the forefront due to their competitive capacity, low cost, and safety metrics. However, the side reactions at the anode, the instability of the cathode and the limited applications of aqueous electrolytes hinder its commercialization. High-entropy materials (HEMs), known for their multi-elemental composition and synergy, have shown great potential to alleviate the failure behaviors in various components, such as the electrochemical instability of electrodes, side reactions and electrolyte incompatibility with the reactive metallic anode. Based on the evaluation of emerging HEM strategies and the failure behavior analysis of AZMBs, this review discloses that the adoption of HEMs could be a universal solution to break the constraints in AZMBs and pave the way toward the development of high-performance AZMBs.