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Zn-ion energy storage devices employing hydrogel electrolytes are considered as promising candidates for flexible and wearable electronics applications. This is because of their safe nature, low cost, and good mechanical characteristics. However, conventional hydrogel electrolytes face limitation at subzero temperatures. Herein, we report an antifreezing, safe, and nontoxic gel electrolyte based on the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/Zn/ethylene glycol system. The optimal gel electrolyte membrane exhibits a high ionic conductivity (15.03 mS cm -1 at room temperature) and promising antifreezing performance (9.05 mS cm -1 at -20 °C and 3.53 mS cm -1 at -40 °C). Moreover, the antifreezing gel electrolyte can suppress the growth of Zn dendrites to display a uniform Zn plating/stripping behavior. Also, a flexible antifreezing Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitor fabricated with the optimum antifreezing gel electrolyte membrane exhibits excellent electrochemical properties. The supercapacitor possesses a high specific capacity of 247.7 F g -1 at room temperature under a high working voltage of 2 V. It also displays an outstanding cyclic stability at room temperature. Moreover, the supercapacitor shows an extraordinary electrochemical behavior and cyclic stability over up to 30 000 cycles at -20 °C under a current load of 5 A g -1 , demonstrating its outstanding low-temperature electrochemical performance. Besides, the antifreezing supercapacitor device also offers high flexibility under different deformation conditions. Therefore, it is believed that this work provides a simplistic method of realizing the application of flexible antifreezing Zn-ion energy storage devices in a subzero-temperature environment.

In this study, novel ionic liquid-incorporated Zn-ion conducting polymer electrolyte membranes containing polymer matrix poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate (EMITf), along with zinc trifluoromethanesulfonate Zn(Tf) 2 , are prepared and investigated. It is ascertained that the optimal membrane ILPE-Zn-4 (the mass ratio of EMITf:Zn(Tf) 2 :PVDF-HFP is 0.4:0.4:1), with abundant nanopores, exhibits a high amorphousness. At room temperature, the optimized electrolyte membrane offers a good value of ionic conductivity (~1.44 × 10 -4 S cm -1 ), with a wide electrochemical stability window (~4.14 V). Moreover, the electrolyte membrane can sustain a high thermal decomposition temperature (~305 °C), and thus its mechanical performance is sufficient for practical applications. Accordingly, the ionic liquid-incorporated Zn-ion conducting polymer electrolyte could be a potential candidate for Zn-based energy storage applications.

With 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) as the solvent, the biodegradable gel polymer electrolyte films are prepared based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), lithium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (LiTFSI), and 1-ethyl-3 methylimidazoliumbis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMITFSI) by means of solution casting. The films are characterized to evaluate their structural and electrochemical performance. The 60PVA-40LiTFSI + 10 wt.% EMITFSI system exhibits excellent mechanical properties and a high ionic transference number (0.995), indicating primary ionic conduction in the film. In addition, because of the flexibility of polymer chain segments, its relaxation time is as low as 5.30 × 10 -7 s. Accordingly, a high ionic conductivity (3.6 × 10 -3 S cm -1 ) and a wide electrochemical stability window (~5 V) are obtained. The electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) based on this electrolyte system shows a specific capacitance of 101 F g -1 and an energy density of 10.3 W h kg -1 , even after 1000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 0.4 A g -1 under a charging voltage of 2 V. All these excellent properties imply that the NMP-soluble 60PVA-40LiTFSI + 10 wt.% EMITFSI gel polymer electrolyte could be a promising electrolyte candidate for electrochemical device applications.

Phase-pure hexagonal and orthorhombic YFeO₃ nanopowders are synthesized by low-temperature solid-state reaction along with Zr doping. The obtained powders are characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and physical property measurements. The hexagonal YFeO₃ exhibits a narrower optical band gap in comparison to the orthorhombic one, while the orthorhombic YFeO₃ presents better magnetic properties. The formation of hexagonal or orthorhombic phase can be effectively controlled by Zr doping. The temperature range of synthesizing the hexagonal YFeO₃ nanopowders is increased by ~200 °C due to Zr doping so that they can be easily synthesized, which possesses a finer particle size and a smaller optical band gap, making it favorable for optical applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Based on precursor powders with a size of 200-300 nm prepared by the low-temperature solid-state reaction method, phase-pure YMnO₃ ceramics are fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal that the high-purity YMnO₃ ceramics can be prepared by SPS at 1000 °C for 5 minutes with annealing at 800 °C for 2 h. The relative density of the sample is as high as 97%, which is much higher than those of the samples sintered by other methods. The present dielectric and magnetic properties are much better than those of the samples fabricated by conventional methods and SPS with ball-milling precursors, and the ferroelectric loops at room temperature can be detected. These findings indicate that the YMnO₃ ceramics prepared by the low temperature solid reaction method and SPS possess excellent dielectric lossy ferroelectric properties at room temperature, and magnetic properties at low temperature (10 K), making them suitable for potential multiferroic applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Based on precursor powders with a size of 200-300 nm prepared by the low-temperature solid reaction method, phase-pure YFeO₃ ceramics are fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS) at different temperatures. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal that the high-purity YFeO₃ ceramics can be prepared using SPS, while the results from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) show that the concentration of oxygen vacancies resulting from transformation from Fe 3+ to Fe 2+ is low. The relative density of the 1000 °C-sintered sample is as high as 97.7%, which is much higher than those of the samples sintered at other temperatures. The present dielectric and magnetic properties are much better than those of the samples fabricated by conventional methods. These findings indicate that the YFeO₃ ceramics prepared by the low temperature solid reaction and SPS methods possess excellent dielectric and magnetic properties, making them suitable for potential applications involving magnetic storage.