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Zinc-nickel (Zn-Ni) alkaline batteries have appealed extensive research interest due to their low cost, high safety, and high energy density, which are favorable competitors in zinc-based batteries. Herein, we prepared ZnO with oxygen vacancies by simple hydrothermal and high temperature reduction annealing as anode materials for Zn-Ni alkaline batteries. In comparison with pristine ZnO, the introduction of oxygen vacancies not only improves the electronic conductivity of the material but also effectively provides more active sites for the reaction and lowers the ion transport energy barrier, thus improving the electrochemical reaction kinetics of ZnO 1−x . A variety of experimental results and density functional theory calculations show that ZnO 1−x has good electrochemical properties. Consequently, the synthesized ZnO 1−x anode material exhibits a specific capacity of 590 mA h g −1 at 5 C (90% retention over 800 cycles) and excellent rate performance (612 mA h g −1 at 10 C). Significantly, this work provides new insights into the development of anode materials for long cycle life and high rate performance.

Zinc-nickel batteries are the ideal alternative to lithium-ion batteries because of their low cost, safety, and high energy density. However, the disreputable problems, such as zinc dendrites and poor electrical conductivity, have seriously hindered its further development. Herein, ZnO@NC/CNT is prepared via a three-step method of the hydrothermal-calcination-water bath. It has the inhibition ability of electrochemical polarization due to the highly conductive carbon nanotube backbone forming an internal conductive network, which increases the electron transfer rate. On the other hand, N atoms with strong pro-zinc ability can effectively homogenize zinc deposition and inhibit dendrites. Consequently, the ZnO@NC/CNT anode still retains the capacity of 570 mAh g −1 after 2150 cycles, with 90% of theoretical capacity (627 mAh g −1 ). This study provides a reference for the design of Zn−Ni electrode materials with a high discharge-specific capacity, high rate performance, and long cycle stability.

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