Reaction mechanisms, key challenges, and future prospects of zinc-ion/magnesium-based batteries: from fundamental researches to electrode/electrolyte engineering

Abstract

Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion accelerate global climate change, while the inherent intermittency of wind and solar renewables demands advanced energy storage systems to support their large-scale grid integration. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) currently prevail in the field of energy storage, yet their extensive commercial deployment is hindered by geographically uneven lithium reserves, steeply rising raw material prices and intrinsic safety risks. In this context, zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) and magnesium-ion batteries (MIBs) have emerged as highly promising multivalent metal-ion alternatives. Benefiting from abundant reserves, cost-effectiveness, high theoretical capacities, and superior intrinsic safety, they represent formidable contenders to succeed LIBs. To provide a comparative and engineering-centric perspective, this review systematically evaluates these two multivalent systems within a unified framework encompassing charge storage mechanisms, material-level challenges, interfacial engineering, and device integration. By elucidating their common technical bottlenecks and divergent solutions, this review intends to deliver cross-system research insights, identify transferable strategies, and outline a clear development roadmap spanning from fundamental investigation to practical industrial application, this work thus acts as a strategic guideline for researchers and engineers engaged in multivalent metal-ion batteries.

Keywords

Zinc-based batteries / magnesium-based batteries / anodes / cathodes / electrolytes / mechanisms

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