Under the increasingly severe climate and regulative pressures to achieve carbon neutrality, current electrochemical energy storage systems are in need of a radical upgrade to meet various demands from end users. Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) provide sustainable routes to grid-scale energy storage because of their cost and safety advantages, using mild aqueous electrolytes and abundant metallic zinc anodes. Besides, owing to the distinctive merits such as relatively high ionic conductivity, environmental benignity, low risks of flammability and considerable energy density of AZIBs compared with conventional Li-ion batteries, AZIBs are intensively investigated to unleash the potential for practical applications. However, the development of rechargeable AZIBs is plagued by poor reversibility due to a series of intrinsic issues, such as hydrogen evolution and Zn dendrite formation. Significantly, the advances in materials discovery and innovation in device configuration have improved the performance of AZIBs in all aspects, including durability, operating voltage range, energy/power density, and economic availability. Different electrolyte components are investigated intensively to suppress the side reaction on the Zn anodes. However, further improvements are needed, especially for realizing the requirement for high energy density and high stability scenarios. The recent progress of AZIBs technology, such as facile electrolyte components and additives for aqueous AZIBs will be discussed in this talk.

Under the increasingly severe climate and regulative pressures to achieve carbon neutrality, current electrochemical energy storage systems are in need of a radical upgrade to meet various demands from end users. Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) provide sustainable routes to grid-scale energy storage because of their cost and safety advantages, using mild aqueous electrolytes and abundant metallic zinc anodes. Besides, owing to the distinctive merits such as relatively high ionic conductivity, environmental benignity, low risks of flammability and considerable energy density of AZIBs compared with conventional Li-ion batteries, AZIBs are intensively investigated to unleash the potential for practical applications. However, the development of rechargeable AZIBs is plagued by poor reversibility due to a series of intrinsic issues, such as hydrogen evolution and Zn dendrite formation. Significantly, the advances in materials discovery and innovation in device configuration have improved the performance of AZIBs in all aspects, including durability, operating voltage range, energy/power density, and economic availability. Different electrolyte components are investigated intensively to suppress the side reaction on the Zn anodes. However, further improvements are needed, especially for realizing the requirement for high energy density and high stability scenarios. The recent progress of AZIBs technology, such as facile electrolyte components and additives for aqueous AZIBs will be discussed in this talk.