Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,234 studies31 sourcesUpdated 58 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC 3.0Chemical Science

A silk fibroin hybrid hydrogel electrolyte enables highly robust aqueous zinc-ion batteries to operate from −60 to 60 °C

  • Chaolin You1,2
  • Wenjie Zhang1
  • Weijia Fan1
  • Yi Peng1
  • Tao Wang1
  • Xiongwei Wu2
  • Lijun Fu3
  • Yuping Wu1,3
  • Xiangfeng Duan4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Confucius Energy Storage Lab, School of Energy and Environment, Z Energy Storage Center, Southeast University Nanjing 210096 China
  2. 2College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-Chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, Hunan Normal University Changsha 410081 China
  3. 3State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Energy Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University Nanjing 211816 China
  4. 4Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles CA 90095 USA
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) enable safe and sustainable grid-scale energy storage but are limited by dendrite growth, parasitic reactions, and poor temperature tolerance. Herein, we report a multifunctional silk fibroin/polyacrylamide hydrogel electrolyte (SF/PAM-HGE) enabling stable zinc electrochemistry from −60 to 60 °C. SF β-sheet-mediated network reconstruction enhances the mechanical properties of the hydrogel electrolyte, whereas SF's abundant polar groups disrupt water hydrogen bonds, granting the hydrogel wide-temperature adaptability. In addition, the ligand environment tailored by SF's zincophilic polar groups regulates the Zn2+ solvation structure, facilitates directional Zn2+ transport, and cooperates with preferential interfacial adsorption for guided uniform deposition, thereby suppressing dendrite growth and side reactions. Consequently, the SF/PAM-HGE endows symmetrical Zn cells with stable Zn plating/stripping across a broad temperature range. The Zn‖PANI cells achieve 18 000 cycles with nearly 100% capacity retention at −40 °C and operate stably from −60 to 60 °C. Furthermore, four-electron Zn‖I2 batteries deliver 391.6 mAh g−1 and cycle over 8000 times. Pouch cells also exhibit robust cycling with a high areal capacity of 3.96 mAh cm−2. This work provides a molecular-network design strategy for hydrogel electrolytes toward reliable all-climate AZIBs.

Related

  1. Development of a Photocrosslinked Methacrylated Silk Fibroin Hydrogel Incorporating Hesperidin-Loaded Liposomes for Wound Dressing Applications.
    Di Wang, Jiahua Li, Yongxia Wang +2
    Gels (Basel, Switzerland)Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textMaterials & polymersEurope PMC
  2. The importance of nanoscale phenomena in electrolyte behavior: acetonitrile-aqueous zinc sulfate electrolytes
    Emma N. Antonio, Luis Kitsu Iglesias, Kee Sung Han +7
    ChemRxivPreprintLicence not statedGeneral chemistryChemRxiv
  3. How to Discover New Electrolyte Additives for Lithium Batteries: A Computational Roadmap
    Ilya V. Chepkasov, Alexey S. Galushko, Mikhail N. Khrizanforov +2
    ChemRxivPreprintLicence not statedGeneral chemistryChemRxiv
  4. Graphene-Confined Silicon and a Li6.5La3Zr1.5Ta0.5O12-Reinforced Plasticized Poly(ethylene oxide) Electrolyte Enable Contact-Stable Solid-State Lithium Batteries
    Xianzheng Liu, Nashrah Hani Jamadon, Jiayi Li +6
    PolymersPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textMaterials & polymersEurope PMC
  5. Computational Modeling of Electrolytes and the Solid–Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) in Li-Ion Batteries: A 30-Year Odyssey from DFT/MD/MC to AI–A Comprehensive Review
    Ilya V. Chepkasov, Alexey S. Galushko, Viktor S. Baidyshev +3
    ChemRxivPreprintLicence not statedGeneral chemistryChemRxiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{you2026silk,
  title = {{A silk fibroin hybrid hydrogel electrolyte enables highly robust aqueous zinc-ion batteries to operate from −60 to 60 °C}},
  author = {Chaolin You and Wenjie Zhang and Weijia Fan and Yi Peng and Tao Wang and Xiongwei Wu and Lijun Fu and Yuping Wu and Xiangfeng Duan},
  journal = {Chemical Science},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1039/d6sc06138a},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc06138a},
  note = {CC BY-NC 3.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A silk fibroin hybrid hydrogel electrolyte enables highly robust aqueous zinc-ion batteries to operate from −60 to 60 °C
AU  - Chaolin You
AU  - Wenjie Zhang
AU  - Weijia Fan
AU  - Yi Peng
AU  - Tao Wang
AU  - Xiongwei Wu
AU  - Lijun Fu
AU  - Yuping Wu
AU  - Xiangfeng Duan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/14
JO  - Chemical Science
DO  - 10.1039/d6sc06138a
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc06138a
AB  - Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) enable safe and sustainable grid-scale energy storage but are limited by dendrite growth, parasitic reactions, and poor temperature tolerance. Herein, we report a multifunctional silk fibroin/polyacrylamide hydrogel electrolyte (SF/PAM-HGE) enabling stable zinc electrochemistry from −60 to 60 °C. SF β-sheet-mediated network reconstruction enhances the mechanical properties of the hydrogel electrolyte, whereas SF's abundant polar groups disrupt water hydrogen bonds, granting the hydrogel wide-temperature adaptability. In addition, the ligand environment tailored by SF's zincophilic polar groups regulates the Zn2+ solvation structure, facilitates directional Zn2+ transport, and cooperates with preferential interfacial adsorption for guided uniform deposition, thereby suppressing dendrite growth and side reactions. Consequently, the SF/PAM-HGE endows symmetrical Zn cells with stable Zn plating/stripping across a broad temperature range. The Zn‖PANI cells achieve 18 000 cycles with nearly 100% capacity retention at −40 °C and operate stably from −60 to 60 °C. Furthermore, four-electron Zn‖I2 batteries deliver 391.6 mAh g−1 and cycle over 8000 times. Pouch cells also exhibit robust cycling with a high areal capacity of 3.96 mAh cm−2. This work provides a molecular-network design strategy for hydrogel electrolytes toward reliable all-climate AZIBs.
SN  - 2041-6520
SN  - 2041-6539
ER  -