The Role of Eutectic Gel Electrolytes and MXene-Modified Anodes in the Enhancement of Zinc-Ion Battery Efficiency

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have been identified as highly safe, sustainable, and economically viable technologies for energy storage. However, their actual implementation has encountered significant obstacles, including dendritic formation, hydrogen evolution corrosion, and interfacial side reactions. In this study, an anhydrous eutectic gel electrolyte (OTF-PVA12.5) was developed by dissolving polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in a deep eutectic solvent (DES) consisting of zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate (Zn(OTF) 2 ) and ethylene glycol (EG), which was then combined with a Ti 3 C 2 MXene-modified anode to construct a new electrolyte–anode system. The findings demonstrate that the OTF-PVA12.5 gel electrolyte displayed superior performance, and when combined with an MX@Zn anode, the battery’s cycling performance was significantly improved. MX@Zn//OTF-PVA12.5//MX@Zn button cells could reliably deposit and strip for 1,169 h at a current density of 0.5 mAh/cm 2 , while MX@Zn//OTF-PVA12.5//PANI button cells were capable of enduring 2,000 stable charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g, exhibiting an average coulombic efficiency of 99.8%. This research presents a cooperation approach that integrates the optimization of eutectic gel electrolytes with MXene-enhanced zinc anodes. This methodology improves battery performance by redesigning the anode interface and optimizing the electrolytes.