A self-designed double cross-linked gel for flexible zinc-air battery with extreme conditions adaptability

Flexible zinc-air batteries have attracted more and more attention as an efficient and promising energy storage system. However, traditional gel electrolytes and flexible batteries have disadvantages such as poor mechanical properties and weak adaptability to extreme conditions. Here, we report a self-designed double cross-linked high-performance gel electrolyte (PAAK-M) for flexible zinc-air batteries, which is synthesized by polymerization of acrylamide (AM) monomer with the neutralized product of acrylic acid (AA) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) under heating conditions. Benefiting from the unique mechanical structure and excellent performance of PAAK-M gel, the assembled flexible zinc-air battery exhibits a high power density of 126 mW cm−2 and a long cycle life of over 55 h at room temperature. More importantly, the battery not only shows remarkable electrochemical performance over a wide temperature range (−20 °C to 100 °C), but also has good stability and practicality under various extreme conditions. Two zinc-air batteries integrated in series can reliably provide energy for LEDs and electronic clock. This study opens up a new idea for the development of high-performance gel electrolytes and provides a new strategy for the research of flexible batteries with the ability to adapt to extreme conditions.