Preparation of ZnO Nanorods with Lattice Vacancies and Their Application in Ni-Zn Battery

doi:10.15541/jim20190195

Abstract

Abstract:

As a type of environmental benign secondary battery with high power density, Ni-Zn battery is often limited by the weakness of negative electrode materials in the applications. In this work, ZnO nanorods (NRs) with high performance were synthesized by Sol-Gel process with hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) as template and subsequent thermal annealing treatment. Morphology, crystalline structure and surface functional groups of ZnO NRs were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscope (FT-IR), respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements reveal that ZnO NRs have carbon layers on the surface and vacancies in the lattice. Tafel tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) show that the corrosion current and charge transfer resistance of ZnO NRs-based electrodes are reduced by 40% and 62%, respectively, compared with commercial ZnO. Further investigation show that Ni-Zn batteries fabricated with ZnO NRs have better cycling performances. After 100 cycles at a current density of 1 A·g^-1, the capacity retention rate of ZnO NRs is 92%, which is significantly higher than that of commercial ZnO powder (32%).

Key words: nickel-zinc battery, lattice vacancy, ZnO nanorod, anode material, electrochemical performance

CLC Number:

TQ15

ZHU Zeyang,WEI Jishi,HUANG Jianhang,DONG Xiangyang,ZHANG Peng,XIONG Huanming. Preparation of ZnO Nanorods with Lattice Vacancies and Their Application in Ni-Zn Battery[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2020, 35(4): 423-430.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of the preparation of ZnO NRs and the Ni-Zn battery with inset showing the photograph of ZnO NRs

Fig. 2 TEM images of (a) commercial ZnO and (b-d) ZnO NRs

Fig. 3 (a) XRD patterns, and (b) FT-IR spectra of commercial ZnO, ZnO NRs precursor and ZnO NRs

Fig. 4 (a) Thermogravimetric analysis and (b) Raman spectrum of ZnO NRs

Fig. 5 HRXPS spectra of (a) Zn 2p and (b) O 1s for commercial ZnO and ZnO NRs, and (c) EPR spectra of commercial ZnO and ZnO NRs

Fig. 6 Electrochemical performances of commercial ZnO and ZnO NRs electrodes (a) CV curves at a scan rate of 10 mV·s-1; (b) Tafel plots; (c) Nyquist plots

Table 1 Parameters of Tafel plots and EIS for commercial ZnO and ZnO NRs

Electrode	Tafel plots		EIS
Electrode	E_corr/V (vs. Hg/HgO)	I_corr/(mA·cm^-2)	R_S/Ω	R_CT/Ω
Commercial ZnO	-1.327	5.01×10^-3	1.4	7.9
ZnO NRs	-1.311	3.01×10^-3	0.9	3.0

Fig. 7 Electrochemical performances of the Ni(OH)2//commercial ZnO and Ni(OH)2//ZnO NRs (a-d) Charge-discharge curves at different current densities; (e) Rate capabilities; (f) Cycling performances

Table 2 Rate performances of different ZnO negative materials

Sample	Current density	Capacity retention/%
ZnO@Bi/C^[12]	1C-5C	~52.5
ZnO@RGO^[31]	1C-5C	~58.3
SnO₂@ZnO^[32]	1C-8C	~24.0
ZnO-N₂@C^[11]	1C-10C	~56.4
This work	1.5C-15C	~59.1

Table 3 Cycling performances of different ZnO negative materials

Sample	Capacity retention
Spherical ZnO^[33]	0.2C, 100 cycles, ~64%
ZnO/PPy_16.8%^[9]	1C, 100 cycles, ~74%
12wt% TPP-modified ZnO^[34]	1C, 50 cycles, ~89%
This work	1.5C, 100 cycles, ~92%

Fig. 8 SEM images of (a, b) commercial ZnO and (c, d) ZnO NRs (a, c) before and (b, d) after 100 cycles at 5 A·g-1

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