Advances in Organic electrolytes for High-Performance zinc Batteries: Enhancing zinc anode Robustness and efficiency

Rechargeable zinc batteries (RZBs) are considered potent for next-generation electrochemical devices due to their low cost, inherent safety, and rapid kinetics in aqueous electrolytes. Despite their numerous advantages, traditional aqueous zinc (Zn) batteries face significant challenges stemming from the thermodynamic instability of Zn metal and intricate reaction kinetics. This instability in water-based electrolytes limits battery cycle life and current capacity, leading to early short-circuiting and surface passivation that hinder chemical stability, electrochemical reversibility, and practical implementations of RZBs. Markedly, organic electrolytes (OEs) offer a theoretical solution to Zn anode thermodynamic instability, offering simple electrochemistry at the electrode/electrolyte interface (EEI) along with enhanced reversibility and cycling stability. This review highlights recent progress in employing OEs as an alternative, with a particular emphasis on efficiency, safety, and novel research discoveries to commercialize Zn based batteries for energy demand. Through an in-depth analysis of recent advancements, this study highlights the potential of OEs to transform RZBs for large-scale practical applications.