Nanofluidic-engineered carbon nanotube ion highways in hydrogels enable high-power aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

ABSTRACT: Quasi-solid polymer electrolytes (QSPEs) for flexible batteries face critical limitations in ion transport efficiency at high currents. We address this with a design of nanofluidic polyacrylamide hydrogel integrating aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as ion highways [SWCNT-embedded polyacrylamide(CPAM)]. Photo-polymerization ensures homogeneous SWCNT distribution, delivering a high ionic conductivity of 30.3 mS cm^-1 while shielding polymer matrices from ion collision. Molecular dynamics simulations identify three ion transport modes, dominated by SWCNT-confined pathways. The CPAM-based Zn||Zn cell exhibits ultralong cycling (7000 hours), and Zn|CPAM|Zn_0.25V₂O₅ cells retain 80% capacity after 2000 cycles at 40 A g^-1 (19.2

SUBMITTER: Lin D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12629143 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature