Performance of carbon-coated nano-ZnO prepared by carbonizing gel precursor as anodic material for secondary alkaline Zn batteries

Although carbon coating can improve the cycle life of anode for alkaline Zn batteries, the specific capacity reported is still lower compared with nanosized ZnO. Herein, carbon-coated nanosized ZnO (nano-ZnO@C) was synthesized by one-step heat treatment from a gel precursor in N-2. Commercial ZnO and homemade ZnO prepared similarly in air atmosphere were studied for comparison. Structure analysis displayed that both nano-ZnO@C and homemade ZnO had a porous hierarchical agglomerated architecture produced from primary nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 100 nm as building blocks. Electrochemical performance measurements showed that nano-ZnO@C displayed the highest electrochemical activity, the lowest electrode resistance, the highest discharge capacity (622 mA.h/g), and the best cyclic stability. These properties were due to the combination of nanosized ZnO and the physical capping of carbon, which maintained the high utilization efficiency of nano-ZnO, and simultaneously prevented dendrite growth and densification of the anode.