Conductive polymer composites cathodes for rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries: A mini-review

With the supply of lithium resources beginning to dwindle, rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have attracted research interests as alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. Developing high-performance and cost-effective cathodes can promote the commercialisation process of AZIBs. Transition metal-based materials, including different phases of vanadium oxides, manganese oxides and Prussian blue analogues are promising candidates due to their reasonable crystal structures to host Zn-ions. However, they are suffering from the low electrical conductivity and structural instability. The modification of these materials by conductive polymers and the formation of composites are demonstrated as promising strategies to solve the problem and improve the cathode performance in AZIBs. In this mini review, we summarize representative advancements of conductive polymer composites as cathodes in AZIBs and provide an insight into their future research directions.