Starch-reinforced adhesive hydrogel electrolyte enables high-performance flexible zinc-air batteries

A starch-polyacrylamide (S-PAM) double-network hydrogel characterized by high ionic conductivity, excellent water retention capacity, mechanical flexibility, and strong adhesion was prepared using a simple graft copolymerization technique. Remarkably, the flexible zinc-air battery, assembled with the high-performance S-PAM electrolyte and CoFe-NC bifunctional catalyst, exhibited a high discharge voltage of 1.3 V and sustained operation for over 40 h. Furthermore, the battery maintained a stable voltage output under various bending and impact conditions, demonstrating a great potential for wearable applications.