Recent Progress on Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks and Their Derivatives in Alkali Metal–Chalcogen Batteries

Abstract The commercialization of high‐energy‐density alkali metal (Li, Na, and K)–chalcogen (S, Se, and Te) batteries (AMCBs) has been primarily hindered by the volume expansion of chalcogen cathodes during repeated charging/discharging cycles, the shuttling effect of intermediates in the electrolytes, and unstable alkali metal anodes. Owing to their unique structural and physicochemical characteristics, including high specific surface areas, self‐doped N atoms, open pore structure, versatile compositions, and favorable chemical stability, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) and their derivatives have been widely used in different battery components, such as cathodes, anodes, separators, and interlayers, to resolve these issues simultaneously. This review discusses recent advances in ZIFs and their derivatives for cathode construction, anode protection, and interlayer/separator design in AMCBs. The processing methods, structure and morphology engineering, composition tuning, and electrochemical performance of various ZIFs and their derivatives are systematically examined. More importantly, the remaining challenges and future research directions are summarized and discussed. This review is expected to offer new approaches for the rational design of ZIFs and their derivatives for emerging energy storage devices.