Enhanced Copolymer Gel Modified by Dual Surfactants for Flexible Zinc–Air Batteries
Pengfei Zhang, Keliang Wang, Yayu Zuo, Manhui Wei, Hengwei Wang, Zhuo Chen, Nuo Shang, Pucheng Pei
Abstract
Zinc–air batteries using gels as carriers for electrolyte absorption have attracted extensive attention due to their flexibility, deformability, and high specific capacity. However, traditional mono-polymer gel electrolytes display poor mechanical properties and low ionic conductivity at wide-window temperatures. Here, the enhanced gel polymer (PAM-F/G) modified by dual surfactants is present by way of pluronic F127 and layered graphene oxide introduced into the polyacrylamide (PAM) matrix. The gel electrolyte procured by absorbing 6 M KOH exhibits improved mechanical characteristics, temperature adaptability, and a satisfactory ionic conductivity (276 mS cm–1). The results demonstrate that a flexible zinc–air battery assembled by PAM-F/G electrolyte outputs a high power density (155 mW cm–2) and can even operate reliably (>40 h) at −20 °C. These findings are available for promoting the research and popularization of flexible zinc–air batteries with high performance.