Preparation and Properties of a ZnO/PVA/β‐CD Composite Electrode for Rechargeable Zinc Anodes

Abstract

ZnO/PVA/β‐CD composite electrode was prepared by chemical crosslinking method. The FT‐IR spectrum of the composite electrode shows that the absorption peaks in 3379 cm−1 owing to the O−H stretching vibration decreased significantly, indicating the decreased of the hydroxyl number. The blue shift of the absorption peak at 3900 cm−1 owing to the O−H stretching vibration proves that the complex substance formed after cross‐linked reaction is more stable. Compared with the bare electrode, the cycle numbers of the composite electrode increased from 40 to 80 before the discharge capacity of the battery reduced to 80% of the maximum capacity at the charge/discharge current density of 25 mA⋅cm−2, which revealed that the cycle life of the composite electrode was longer than the bare electrode. SEM spectrum of the composite after 80 cycles that the active substances were embedded in the composite electrode regularly with good morphology and no obvious dendrite while there was a large number of dendrite inside the bare electrode, which indicated that there was an effect of combination between the complex substance and the active Zn. The results of the polarization curves and the AC impedance measurements show that the composite electrode has high electrochemical activity and low internal resistance.

Pursuit of reversible Zn electrochemistry: a time-honored challenge towards low-cost and green energy storage

“…Jo and coworkers 133 found that polyaniline-coated Zn could exhibit 85% corrosion inhibition efficiency relative to that of pure Zn and enable 97.81% capacity retention after 24 h storage in Zn-air batteries. PVA, a linear polyhydroxy polymer, has also been chosen as the coating material for protecting Zn anodes due to its film-forming capacity, hydrophilicity and easy chemical modification [134][135][136][137] . Zhang et al 134 reported a PVA layer crosslinked with a glutaraldehyde coater for enhancing the mechanical and chemical stability of Zn anodes.…”