Manhui Wei

Gel electrolytes have emerged as the preferred electrolyte materials for quasi-solid Zn-air batteries, attributed to the high ionic conductivity and excellent mechanical flexibility. Nevertheless, the practical implementation faces multiple degradation challenges, including water loss, CO ₂ erosion, mechanical damage, thermal effect, and contact failure, which severely constrain cyclic lifetime and environmental adaptability. This review systematically examines the degradation mechanisms of gel electrolytes and the corresponding mitigation strategies, covering recent progress in water retention enhancement, anti-CO ₂ poisoning design, mechanical reinforcement, wide-temperature adaptability improvement, and Zn dendrite suppression. Current evidence indicates that single modification approaches are often insufficient to simultaneously enhance multiple performance. Future endeavors should therefore prioritize the design of gel electrolytes through multi-mechanism synergistic integration. Furthermore, a deeper understanding of structural evolution and failure behavior of gels under extreme conditions, combined with advanced characterization techniques, can guide the rational design and structural engineering of high-performance gel electrolytes, offering promise for advancing quasi-solid Zn-air batteries toward practical application.

Rechargeable zinc batteries offer a promising route toward safe, low‐cost, and sustainable energy storage, but their practical application is hindered by nonuniform ion transport, parasitic interfacial reactions, and progressive structural degradation. Cellulose is attractive because its oxygen‐containing functional groups, hierarchical fibrous structure, and processable networks can be tailored for zinc anodes, electrolytes, separators, cathodes, and flexible devices. This Review discusses recent advances in cellulose‐based materials for mild aqueous zinc‐ion batteries and alkaline zinc‐air batteries, focusing on how chemical modification, nanoscale organization, pore structure, and wet‐state mechanics affect ion conduction, electrode/electrolyte contact, and structural retention. Particular attention is given to the evidence supporting proposed mechanisms and to the distinct reaction environments of the two systems, including Zn ²⁺ transport and plating/stripping in mild electrolytes, and OH ⁻ transport, zincate redistribution, ZnO evolution, and air‐electrode processes in alkaline cells. The Review also examines performance trade‐offs, component contributions in multicomponent systems, and the limits of comparisons across different testing conditions. By linking cellulose chemistry and architecture with chemistry‐specific battery requirements, it provides practical guidance for material selection, mechanism verification, and device‐oriented design, while identifying chemical durability, dimensional stability, feedstock consistency, standardized evaluation, and scalable manufacturing as priorities for future development.

In this study, we propose a novel energetic structural material, HfZrTi(TaNbV)_x (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, Ta:Nb: V = 1:1:1), to improve the ductility and toughness of the HfZrTi high-entropy alloy (HEAs). The transformation of the single-phase Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) HfZrTi-based alloy into a Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) phase HfZrTiTaNbV alloy can be achieved by tuning the concentration of Group VB β-stabilizing elements. The proposed alloy combines the insensitivity and excellent mechanical strength of conventional inert alloys with the ability to react with air under high-velocity impact for energy release. The mechanical properties and energy release characteristics of HZTX_x (H = Hf, Z = Zr, T = Ti, X = TaNbV) at various strain rates are systematically investigated, and comprehensive microstructural characterization is performed, establishing a clear structure–property relationship. Under high-rate loading, the rapid oxidation of reactive elements, such as Hf and Zr, with atmospheric oxygen releases substantial chemical energy, which can be further enhanced by an adiabatic temperature rise, inducing local thermal softening through adiabatic shear bands. This study elucidates the connection between the deformation response mechanism of HZTX_x under dynamic loading and the microstructure, providing crucial insights for advancing the application of high-entropy alloys in energetic systems.

A fluoropolymer bifunctional solid membrane interface (PTFE SMI) effectively inhibits anodic self-corrosion, while simultaneously reducing the accumulation of by-products, thereby facilitating the commercialization of aqueous Al–air batteries.

Flexible Al–air batteries have attracted widespread attention in the field of wearable power due to the high theoretical energy density of Al metal. However, the efficiency degradation and anodizing retardation caused by Al parasitic corrosion severely limit the performance breakthrough of the batteries. Herein, a Prussian‐blue bifunctional interface membrane is proposed to improving the discharge performance of hydrogel‐based Al–air battery. When a rational 12 mg·cm⁻² membrane is loaded, the effect of anticorrosion and activation is optimal thanks to the formation of a stable and breathable interface. The results demonstrate that a flexible Al–air battery using the membrane can output a high power density of 65.76 mW·cm⁻². Besides, the battery can achieve a high capacity of 2377.43 mAh·g⁻¹, anode efficiency of 79.78%, and energy density of 3176.39 Wh·kg⁻¹ at 10 mA·cm⁻². Density functional theory calculations uncover the anticorrosion‐activation mechanism that Fe³⁺ with a large number of empty orbitals can accelerate electrons transfer, and nucleophilic reactant [Fe^II(CN)₆]⁴⁻ promotes the Al³⁺ diffusion. These findings are beneficial to the inhibition of interfacial parasitic corrosion and weakening of discharge hysteresis for flexible Al–air batteries.

Metal–air batteries have become one of the new potential sources of electrochemical energy due to the excellent electrochemical characteristics, environmental friendliness and cheap cost. Whereas, the commercialization of the metal–air batteries is still subject to the sluggish kinetics on air electrode and hydrogen evolution corrosion as well as dendrite growth of metal anode. Recently, the applied magnetic field, as a technology for transferring energy across physical space, receives more attention, can improve the performance of metal–air batteries by promoting mass transfer, accelerating charge transfer and enhancing electrocatalytic ability based on magnetohydrodynamic effect, Kelvin force effect, Hall effect, Spin selectivity effect, Maxwell stress effect and Magnetothermal effect. This review provides the recent progress in the research on the relative mechanism and characteristic of the magnetic field in the metal–air batteries.