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    A Patternable and In Situ Formed Polymeric Zinc Blanket for a Reversible Zinc Anode in a Skin-Mountable Microbattery
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Zhu, Minshen; Hu, Junping; Lu, Qiongqiong; Dong, Haiyun; Karnaushenko, Dmitriy D.; Becker, Christian; Karnaushenko, Daniil; Li, Yang; Tang, Hongmei; Qu, Zhe; Ge, Jin; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Owing to their high safety and reversibility, aqueous microbatteries using zinc anodes and an acid electrolyte have emerged as promising candidates for wearable electronics. However, a critical limitation that prevents implementing zinc chemistry at the microscale lies in its spontaneous corrosion in an acidic electrolyte that causes a capacity loss of 40% after a ten-hour rest. Widespread anti-corrosion techniques, such as polymer coating, often retard the kinetics of zinc plating/stripping and lack spatial control at the microscale. Here, a polyimide coating that resolves this dilemma is reported. The coating prevents corrosion and hence reduces the capacity loss of a standby microbattery to 10%. The coordination of carbonyl oxygen in the polyimide with zinc ions builds up over cycling, creating a zinc blanket that minimizes the concentration gradient through the electrode/electrolyte interface and thus allows for fast kinetics and low plating/stripping overpotential. The polyimide's patternable feature energizes microbatteries in both aqueous and hydrogel electrolytes, delivering a supercapacitor-level rate performance and 400 stable cycles in the hydrogel electrolyte. Moreover, the microbattery is able to be attached to human skin and offers strong resistance to deformations, splashing, and external shock. The skin-mountable microbattery demonstrates an excellent combination of anti-corrosion, reversibility, and durability in wearables. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
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    Advanced architecture designs towards high-performance 3D microbatteries
    (Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2021) Li, Yang; Qu, Jiang; Li, Fei; Qu, Zhe; Tang, Hongmei; Liu, Lixiang; Zhu, Minshen; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Rechargeable microbatteries are important power supplies for microelectronic devices. Two essential targets for rechargeable microbatteries are high output energy and minimal footprint areas. In addition to the development of new high-performance electrode materials, the device configurations of microbatteries also play an important role in enhancing the output energy and miniaturizing the footprint area. To make a clear vision on the design principle of rechargeable microbatteries, we firstly summarize the typical configurations of microbatteries. The advantages of different configurations are thoroughly discussed from the aspects of fabrication technologies and material engineering. Towards the high energy output at a minimal footprint area, a revolutionary design for microbatteries is of great importance. In this perspective, we review the progress of fabricating microbatteries based on the rolled-up nanotechnology, a derivative origami technology. Finally, we discussed the challenges and perspectives in the device design and materials optimization.