2026/06/10 by Ran Wang, Qian Gao, Runhai Wu +8 · 2 voices
Engineering · #Advanced battery technologies research #Advancements in Battery Materials #Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s40820-026-02246-0
openalex publication_date 2026/06/10 · openalex created_date 2026/06/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Abstract Hydrogel electrolytes are pivotal for flexible zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) yet suffer from an intrinsic trade-off between mechanical robustness and ionic conductivity. Herein, drawing inspiration from the “adhesion-conduction” architecture of spider webs, we developed a hierarchical hydrogel electrolyte (MTP) by incorporating tannic acid (TA)-modified MXene nanosheets (MT) into a polyacrylamide (PAM) skeleton to construct uniform 3D ion-conductive pathways. This bioinspired hierarchy serves a dual function: The PAM framework ensures mechanical integrity, while the MT network creates directed low-resistance channels for Zn 2+ transport. Specifically, the dense array of polar groups on MXene and phenolic hydroxyls on TA act as “sticky sites”, which accelerate desolvation kinetics and homogenize Zn 2+ flux. Consequently, the MTP electrolyte achieves an impressive ionic conductivity of 27.69 mS cm −1 and a high Zn 2+ transference number of 0.833. Enabled by this design, Zn//Zn symmetric cells demonstrate an ultralong lifespan of 4600 h (> 6 months) at 0.5 mA cm −2 /0.5 mAh cm −2 . Furthermore, Zn//Z-VO full cells exhibit outstanding cyclability, retaining 74.5% capacity after 2000 cycles at 2 A g −1 and maintaining durable operation for over 10,000 cycles at 5 A g −1 . This work successfully translates a biological blueprint into a practical strategy for resolving the kinetic and stability challenges in high-performance flexible ZIBs.