Enhanced Polyaniline Cathode in Capacity and Cyclability of Zinc Metal Batteries by Natural Glycyrrhizic Acid Self-Doping

Benefiting from the advantages of electronic conductivity and electrochemical properties, polyaniline can serve as the cathode of aqueous zinc metal batteries. However, shortcomings such as easy aggregation of polyaniline frequently result in deterioration of electrochemical performance. A natural glycyrrhizic acid is used to salinize aniline monomers to form uniformly dispersed polyaniline cathode materials. The suitable content of glycyrrhizic acid can obviously enhance the capacity and cyclability of the polyaniline cathode. Based on this, polyaniline doped with glycyrrhizic acid is deposited in situ on the melt-blown layer of face mask to prepare the cathode electrode. The rate performance and cycle stability are relatively excellent, indicating the feasibility of applying the mask-based cathode material in the field of flexible, wearable zinc metal batteries.