German scientists have found a way to extend the lifespan of zinc-ion batteries more than 100-fold, allowing the fringe battery technology to potentially replace the controversial lithium-ion standard found in today's mobile phones and EVs.

This means instead of just a few thousand charge-discharge cycles, a zinc-ion battery could last hundreds of thousands of cycles—exactly the kind of reliability society needs for a major energy transition.

Fully-developed in 2011, aqueous zinc-ion batteries haven't entered the market in any truly measurable way. The most publicized use in the modern economy today is probably the EOS 1.0 GWh energy storage plant for solar power in Texas.

In theory, zinc-ion batteries hold many advantages over lithium-ions, but problems, including the growth of needle-like zinc structures—known as zinc dendrites—as well as unwanted chemical side reactions that trigger hydrogen formation and corrosion, remain.

Engineers at the Technical University of Munich crafted a unique material to counter these unwanted reactions in the form of a porous organic polymer called TpBD-2F.

This material forms a stable, ultra-thin, and highly ordered film on the zinc anode, allowing zinc ions to flow efficiently through nano channels while keeping water away from the anode.