Li Zhuo, Hu Xianwei, Kang Jian, Wang Xiaoli, Kong Lingyu, Shi Zhongning, Wang Zhaowen
Key Laboratory for Ecological Metallurgy of Multimetallic Mineral (Ministry of Education), School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China.
State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China.
Front Chem. 2022 Jun 30;10:936679. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2022.936679. eCollection 2022.
Nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn) secondary battery that is environmentally friendly and inexpensive has been regarded as a promising rechargeable battery system. However, the generation of deformation and dendrites of the traditional zinc anode during the cycling can cause capacity degradation and impede its practical application. Herein, we design a hierarchical ZnO nanosphere coated with an inherently derived ZIF-8 porous carbon shell (ZnO@C) using a simple controllable method. The conductive carbon shell and porous ZnO core can provide more active sites, allow the fast transfer of electrons, and buffer the volume expansion of the electrode effectively. Benefiting from the synergistic effect amid the inherently ZIF-8-derived carbon shell and ZnO core, ZnO@C nanospheres exhibit a satisfying capacity of 316 mAh g at a current density of 1 A g after 50 cycles and an outstanding rate capacity when acting as the anode for a Ni-Zn secondary battery with merchant agglomerative Ni(OH) as the cathode. These results imply that the ZnO@C nanosphere is a hopeful anode for a high-energy Ni-Zn secondary battery.
镍锌（Ni-Zn）二次电池既环保又便宜，被视为一种很有前景的可充电电池系统。然而，传统锌阳极在循环过程中会产生变形和枝晶，这会导致容量下降并阻碍其实际应用。在此，我们采用一种简单可控的方法设计了一种包覆有天然衍生的ZIF-8多孔碳壳（ZnO@C）的分级ZnO纳米球。导电碳壳和多孔ZnO核可以提供更多活性位点，实现电子的快速转移，并有效缓冲电极的体积膨胀。受益于天然ZIF-8衍生的碳壳与ZnO核之间的协同效应，ZnO@C纳米球在50次循环后，在1 A g的电流密度下表现出316 mAh g的令人满意的容量，并且在用作以商用团聚Ni(OH)为阴极的Ni-Zn二次电池的阳极时展现出出色的倍率性能。这些结果表明，ZnO@C纳米球是高能Ni-Zn二次电池的一种有希望的阳极材料。
